A Hollow Peace: An Old Republic Story
by mikorebz126
Summary: This story is loosely based on Act I of the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic. It follows the Jedi Guardian and Smuggler path and merges both characters. The Jedi is a human male recently promoted from Padawan, and the smuggler is a Twi'lek female.


**An Empty Peace**

**By Michael Rayburn**

**Released August of 2014**

**Pages: 84 **

**Old Republic**

**11 Chapters**

**RTG:M**

**Authors Note: This story is based on the first act of the Bioware game The Old Republic. It combines the smuggler path and the Jedi Guardian path and combines them. While the overall story arc is similar I altered many if the details. On a personal note, this is my first story. I am a teacher first and foremost and write in my spare time simply because I love Star Wars. Since I was a kid I viewed Star Wars as a documentary on the possibilities the universe had to offer and I have never lost that sense of wonder when thinking about the galaxy that could've been all those millennia ago and all those billions of light years away.**

**Chapter 1**

Kai-'Kwon Deo sat alone in the new Temple's main archive, studying ancient texts and ruminating on the mysterious balance of the Force. The archive was one of the largest single rooms in the home of the exiled Jedi Order. The Order had moved here just a few years before Kai-Kwon was born, after the infamous Treaty of Coruscant saw them banished from capital of the Galactic Republic. Instead of trying to renovate one of the two remaining ancient Jed'aii temples at Kaleth or Ver Tepe, the Order chose to start anew. They had long ago abandoned the ancient principles of balance between light and dark, and felt it less than prudent to tempt the hundreds of young Jedi angered by the Council's acceptance of the Treaty that brought them here, by establishing a constant reminder of the Order's warrior roots. The fact that the ancient temples were also too small to accommodate today's Order, and that their geography made them hard to defend also played into the decision making. To remedy these issues, the Republic helped construct the Order's new Temple halfway up the Mataki Mountain range on the volcanic continent of Kato Zakar, at still twice the size of either of the ancient Jed'aii Temples. Like the Temple around it, the archives sported the Core Classical style of architecture. A large circular room, vaulted ceilings held up by a single classical style column for every fifty square meters, and polished stone floors. The west side of the room was lined with tall ceiling to floor windows with a large open floor before them where Jedi could sit and meditate before the rising sun. After the meditation space came the actual tables and stacks of data cards and flimsi journals that Kai-Kwon sat himself, digging into some of the oldest texts the Temple kept out for everyday consumption. He bundled his thick bantha hide robe around his neck. Outside the first snow was falling on the jagged peaks, and Kai was beginning to see the first wisps of his own breath in this poorly insulated room. He shook off the chill and returned to the text on the Greel wood table in front of him. There were older texts to be sure, written on dried animal skins in the immediate generations after the Tho-Yor settled the first force users on Tython, but these were kept behind lock and key in the Hall of Records and only available to the Masters. Kai-Kwon waited patiently for his chance to dig into those one day, but for now he was content with these texts, many seeming to validate and support the Order's immersion into the light. After thousands of generations, the ancient understanding of the force's balance had recently branched in multiple directions; the Living Force had become the primary Ideology for today's Jedi. Adherents to the Living Force believed there were two separate energies that created and guided the universe. The Light was the Yin to the Dark's yang, and they used this symbiotic relationship to create the universe, after, diverging into two fundamentally different paths. The minority belief today was in the Unifying Force, or the idea that posited the Force was a single entity that created and guided the Universe in a pre-determined path. The Unifying Force gave its vessel the power to enact it's will, and it was the user's burden to understand and follow that will. Failure to stay on that path would result in a fall to the Dark. Kai-Kwon struggled with both of these

Philosophies, and couldn't remember a time when he hadn't. He felt he could not fully follow the Living Force, since he believed the only beings truly and fully immersed in the light were the pacifists who chose to work in the Order's Agricultural Corps, and refused to even carry a lightsaber. They believed, rightly Kai-Kwon thought, that to kill a sentient being, no matter the situation or the greater good, even if it was in ultimate service to the Light, required the use of the Dark side. On the other hand, Kai-Kwon also believed in an uncertain future, and didn't put much faith in the prophecies of the Unifying belief. There was however, a much smaller third branch that was really the traditionalist or Je'daii Bendu way. This was the idea that both of these philosophies held just a part of the true understanding of the Force, and that there was a time when anger was a natural emotion when pursuing justice in service to the light. He couldn't understand the notion of repressing emotions like anger, any more than he could understand the notion of letting your emotions control you. What of love? How could we really know love for the collective of beings we fought and died for, if we were discouraged from feeling love on a personal level? In Kai-Kwon's mind there had to be a third option. One in which the Jedi could feel without recrimination, while learning to control these feelings. These thoughts kept him awake many nights wondering if it wasn't this Living Force philosophy that led to the Jedi's late response to Sith aggression in the outer rim. When the Sith appeared in the outer rim, the Council leaders along with the Republic Senate, sensitive to the public's weariness of another war, pursued a policy of appeasement. It backfired. The Sith wasted no time using the Republic's apprehension for bloodshed against them. Using a three pronged pincer movement, they blazed a path all the way into the Mid-Rim before the Republic leaders realized they were being played for fools, and mobilized their forces. Once the reality of war had dawned on the Republicans, they met the threat with valiant determination, but alas, too many inroads had been made by the Sith, and the two sides were destined to slog it out to a bitter stalemate over the next five years. Not yet born, all Kai-Kwon could do was agonize over the decisions that led them here. What if they had acted immediately to the Sith's taking of Korriban? Met force with force, instead of with emissaries and diplomacy? Had they put their pursuit of a peaceful resolution above the lives of the citizens they were sworn to protect? The thought made him cringe with blasphemous guilt.

Kai'Kwon was snapped out of his admittedly hindsight critique by the Temple's keeper of records, the wizened Korenna Zon.

"Jedi Deo?"

"Yes Master?" he said as he looked up at the aged human female, clearing the fog of his thoughts

"I said, you're wanted in the Council chambers…you seemed lost in thought? Anything I can help with?" the wrinkled but pleasant looking Master inquired.

"No, Master…just thinking of what could've been" Kai-Kwon admitted.

"Well then you should've been sleeping…a far more worthwhile endeavor than fretting about that which we cannot change".

"You're right, as always Master" Kai-Kwon said with a smile, quickly defusing any chance at another lecture from the Jedi Archivist.

He left the Archives exchanging hello's with an old friend from their time as youngling trainees, and turned right through the East Hall towards the central foyer. Fifteen years ago the Sith, realizing the Republic was far stronger than it had gauged, called upon it's contingency plan that would once again play upon the Republic's desire for peace. The war, having become nothing more than a brutal and bloody quagmire with both sides bogged down in the Mid-Rim, the Sith Lords had called for a parley with Republic officials…and the many Jedi Council members only too willing to oblige. The Empire had called for a neutral rendezvous on the world of Esseles, and all fighting had ceased immediately. Except for some Jedi who warned of Sith treachery, including Kai's old Master Orgus Din, and a few wise Senators, the Republic marched headlong into the peace conference with only the slightest security precautions. Once all of the Republic's military and political leaders reached Esseles, they launched their plan into motion sending Darth Malgus and Angral to Coruscant with a large force of Sith and their Mandalorian allies, where a token security force waited unknowing of the Ronto bearing down on them. The Sith struck hard and fast, laying waste to all military hard points on the Planet, including the Jedi temple, where Master Ven Zallow was struck down along with many Knights and Padawans. With Coruscant in complete disarray, the Republic diplomats on Alderaan were forced into signing a completely unfavorable treaty, which saw the Jedi banished from Coruscant.

Having to leave their home of the last five thousand years, it felt only natural to return to the planet that had been their home before Coruscant, the deep core world of Tython. Due to Tython's location in the galactic core it was surrounded by all sorts of dangerous cosmic phenomena related to the super massive black hole at the core of all spiral galaxies, and getting there was a challenge very few accepted. For those who were brazen enough to try, the reward was great. Tython was a garden world of immeasurable beauty and resources steeped in the Force, and its location and desolation made for a great safe haven to rejuvenate the badly wounded Order. While Tython had always been considered dangerous for non-Force users, its seclusion and safety from other dangers also brought non-Jedi refugees from the war, including a large number from a banned Twilek religious order who were now the planet's only other sentient inhabitants. They had left their home some twenty years earlier fleeing not only the war but the chauvinistic slavery laws and religious persecution of their homeworld. Kai-Kwon didn't know much about their beliefs but knew their matriarchal society ran in direct confrontation to Ryloth's extremely patriarchal society. Upon arriving on Tython the Jedi had set to building their ancient temple, whose grand corridors Kai-Kwon now briskly walked down. It was nowhere the size of the temple on Coruscant, but then again the Jedi are nowhere near the size they were at the start of the war thirty years ago. It was only three stories tall but gained most of its size and length and width. A squat building painted in beige and blue with two-tiered steps in the front. Kai-Kwon and his friends would often jokingly refer to it as the Bacta King's mansion, and for all intents and purposes it looked identical to the estates of the medicine tycoons on Thyferra. The interior was mostly golden with light blue trim and dark blue carpeting in certain areas. Like the Coruscant temple it lacked any normal mansion aesthetics like hanging artwork. Unlike the

Coruscant temple it also lacked any statuary or monuments to Jedi past, which were ruined or left in place on Coruscant. Kai-Kwon watched his feet pad some of that dark blue carpeting as he ascended the final steps of the circular ramp that divided the floors. The top floor was home to the Council chambers and flanked by the War room, where all military tactical decisions were made, and the agricultural Council room. Even in wartime the Jedi Order's primary mission was to help those who by victim of circumstance could not help themselves…the number of which only increased in wartime. For this there was an entire wing of the Jedi Order who may have lacked the martial ability or command of the force to become Jedi Guardians, but they made up for it through their commitment to the light and the will of the force. To enact the will of the force the only way they could, they traveled the galaxy helping small communities affected by drought, war, or other geological circumstance, most didn't even carry a light saber. The grand double doors that led to the Council chambers were fifteen feet high by eighteen feet wide and three feet thick made of polished wood from the Tythonian Ak tree that towered above the forests of the planet. Kai pushed the comm panel to signal his arrival and after clearance by the protocol droid D-21B the doors began to open from the inside. Walking into the Council chambers Kai was pleased to discover he had not yet outgrown the awe and reverence that had filled him since he was a boy being called into this place. Each of these masters had been leaders in the fight against the Sith Empire before the treaty. They all had significant battles to their credit, which were re-enacted to this day by younglings in apartment hallways and farmsteads throughout the Republic. Some, like Master Satele Shan had even been the subject of blockbuster holo-vids. They weren't just the Republic's greatest hero's, but also the Order's greatest, and Kai felt himself revert to a wide eyed youngling every time he was brought before them. The Council sat in species fitting chairs in the dugout center of the room, which was by design to keep them from being as imposing as possible. The chamber itself was fairly Spartan, with a tiered dome like vaulted ceiling and a two-tiered sunken floor to match. The high-backed chairs of the twelve current masters formed a circle around the sunken floor, with a large single holo-table in the middle. Behind each of the chairs was a bronzium statue of past Council members. Kai knew some would consider it egotistical to honor long dead Jedi with decorative statues while in exile, but he knew it went far deeper than a simple appeal to vanity. History was vital to not only the Jedi, but the culture of the Republic as a whole. It was venerated as maybe the most important subject in schools throughout the galaxy, and it had nothing to do with repeating it. Kai-Kwon knew repeating history was a symptom of emotion more than knowledge. No, what drove this veneration of history in their culture was its power to induce extraordinary behavior. When history is important to society, it has the power to drive people to greatness without any material reward. Just the idea of a legacy remembered. As Kai-Kwon walked into the room he was greeted by the current Grand Master. Entering middle age, Satele Shan was still considered one of the most beautiful women in the galaxy, with smooth olive skin, dark black hair almost always kept in split braids, and light blue eyes. Like most Jedi she took great pains to stay out of the public eye, but circumstances had proven too difficult for her to avoid the spotlight, making her the most recognizable and documented Jedi today. Master Shan had just been a recently promoted Knight receiving additional training under blade master Kao Cen Darach, when they witnessed the vanguard of the Imperial fleet arriving to reclaim the ancient Sith world of Korriban. It was also the first time she would duel Darth Malgus, which began a running battle between the two that seemed to be only in a momentary pause. Despite her inexperience she quickly proved herself to be one of the Republic's most capable leaders, and fiercest warriors. She had led the same group of Republic commandoes from the orbit above Korriban to the day of the Treaty. Rumor had spread throughout the Order that she had a love affair with the squad's Captain, Jace Malcolm, and possibly bore his

child. If true it would have compromised her position, but probably not done irreparable damage. Of all the Order's commands, the most leniency is shown in matters of the heart. Even more leniency is shown when you're Satele Shan. The Grand Master wasn't just renowned by Republic civilians as the Hero of Alderran, she was also renowned by her fellow Jedi, and more so than just the normal respect that was commanded by her position. She commanded this additional adulation through her innate ability to lead, self-sacrifice, and her complete reinvention of the double bladed saber. She had turned what had been a defensive weapon into a devastatingly effective offensive one. Instead of defensive counter attacking she was known for her mad dashes through multiple opponents. A style discouraged for its susceptibility for over committing, she did it all with incredible tactical and defensive control, and this seemingly reckless abandon had made her a rallying symbol for the Republic and an unstoppable force on the quivering lip of any Imperial. As Kai approached this living legend he felt his words catch in his throat only for a moment, "G-Grand Master Shan, you summoned me". Pretending not to sense his nervousness she began "Yes Jedi Deo, we have a situation that's arisen… on planet" Master Shan said, bypassing her normal pleasantries about his training or studies, which immediately concerned Kai-Kwon. "Here Master? On Tython?" he confirmed needlessly. "Yes, an emissary from the refugees in Kalikori village arrived earlier to report that Flesh Raiders have attacked the village on each of the last two nights"

"Flesh Raiders?" Kai-Kwon quietly chided himself for redundancy but on this occasion it was warranted considering the semi-sentient creatures had lived side by side with sentients for thousands of years with only the occasional incident, and never an organized raid. "Yes the implications are very troubling" Master Shan said sensing his unease. "We must find out why? If it's out of some sort of famine than we need to help but either way these attacks end" She said with the same commanding presence that made her the rallying figure of the Great War. "Yes Master, I will leave immediately" Kai answered bowing his head in the spirit of servitude to the Force and his Masters. Kai-Kwon's old master Orgus Din spoke up "I think we are all in agreement that Kai-Kwon is the most promising young Jedi we have seen in some time but I would still feel better if I accompanied Jedi Deo…at least until we figure out how serious these attacks are" Master Din quickly glanced at Kai to see if he had wounded his pride, but Kai remained stone faced. Orgus Din was one of the few Jedi that had survived the Sith's surprise attack on Coruscant. Master Din was a bit of an outlier in the Order, he was short for a human, and he shaved his head completely rather than wearing his hair long in the fashion favored by most human Jedi. He was such an outlier that member of the press had begun referring to him as the "Plain Jedi", which Kai-Kwon had heard was a source of amusement for all the Masters including Orgus Din himself. Kai thought maybe some of this fashion sense had rubbed off on him since he also wore his hair shorter than a lot of Jedi but he still had enough dirty blonde hair to tie into a small pony tail. And try as he might Kai-Kwon could not look ordinary or plain. Tall with a lean muscled body and his chiseled face kept him from blending in anywhere.

"I agree" the Grand Master said looking around the room to see the concurrent nods of the other assembled masters. "Master Din and Jedi Deo may the Force be with you both" Master Shan intoned the familiar parting for the galactic faithful. Kai hesitated before leaving and turned back to his old mentor, "Master are you coming?" Orgus Din rose to his feet and waved a dismissal at Kai "Go on ahead Jedi Deo, I will meet you in the speeder bay in twenty minutes". "Very well Master" Kai responded sure that Master Din's reason for remaining was to discuss his selection for this assignment.

Kai left the High Council Chamber, heading down the circular ramp to the bottom floor and the East Wing towards requisitions, where he would restock on bacta patches and all the other necessary supplies for any mission. It wasn't Master Din's suggestion that he accompany him that bothered Kai, after all it was a good idea, what was bothering Kai was the look his old master had shot him after making the suggestion, obviously still worried about the egotism that had plagued Kai-Kwon since his days as a youngling. He had only passed the trials to become a night less than a standard year ago, and after spending the last fifteen years under the constant tutelage of Orgus Din, the desire to please his old master was still very much alive within Kai-Kwon.

Like most Jedi born to families in core, Kai came to the order as an infant. Like most families, his had probably given him to the Order for the honor and opportunity having a Jedi in the family could bring. Unlike most Jedi though, Kai-Kwon had been singled out by the time he was six years old as having the potential to be a powerful Master. By the time he was twelve he was considered a prodigy with martial ability and a command of the Force not seen since Grand Master Shan herself was a youngling. Like all sentient beings, Jedi suffered from character flaws, and Kai-Kwon Deo's greatest struggle throughout his years as a Padawan was with his pride. Around fifteen his arrogance had completely pushed away many of the other Padawans who should've been becoming lifelong friends. As Master Din said many times the only way a character flaw can bring us down is if we fail recognize and acknowledge it. So Kai-Kwon had recognized his problem and worked very hard to overcome it and repair the relationships he had damaged over the years. With that one look from Master Din however, he was once again the young teenager filled with shame at the realization that nobody wanted to be around him. Pride was one of the more dangerous triggers for a fall to the dark side, numerous times a Jedi's duty had brought him through a populated spaceport, the Senate chambers, or sometimes in the midst of battle in full view of news holocam's. Once that happened the Order tried to keep the name of the renowned Jedi hidden. Once a Jedi attained the rank of Master and got a seat on the council there was no way to shield against the adoration of the public, hopefully by that time you should have your flaws completely under your own control. After stocking up on enough supplies to last at least three days Kai-Kwon rounded the last column and entered the vestibule that led to the Temple's speeder hangar. As he entered the large bay he found Master Din standing by two Rendilli speeder bikes. Like most things in the Order there was a collective sense of ownership so no Jedi had their own bikes, but they still had their favorites. Kai-Kwon's favorite was black and silver with a fusion core he had modified months ago that allowed for a little more speed. Master Din greeted Kai with a wary smile and said, "I was correct in remembering this as your favorite bike?" he said with a smile before becoming serious "…Kai…-" Kai interjected before he could finish "Master you were right to suggest to come along-"

"I know that" Orgus' pronouncement caught Kai off guard but before he could collect his thoughts Orgus continued, "What I was going to say was even though you are no longer

officially my Padawan, that does not mean I can no longer teach you, and judging by your humble acceptance of an apology that was not coming tells me you are learning" Before Kai-Kwon could say thank you he continued once more, "However, the fact that you believed you were owed an apology still tells me you have a way to go…and I will be here until you arrive" the smile that returned lessened the sting of Master Orgus' rebuke. Plus it was hard to be upset given everything he said was true, he would just have to resolve to work harder. "You're right master, as ever" Kai said returning his master's smile. "Shall we go to Kalikori? And no young one we are not racing" Master Orgus said with a friendly pat to Kai-Kwon's back.

**CH. 2**

Azi'Tivi Zanek sat at the helm of her ship _Rogue Wind_, which would only be its name for as long as this run took, the actual name of the ship was the _True North_. The subterfuge was needed to get through the neutral zone. The zone encompassed was the Mid-Rim buffer between Republic and Imperial held systems, and was by far the most dangerous area for any smuggler right now. Any ship with a smuggling mark against it would be fired upon…no prior warning offered. And with her cargo this run she wasn't taking any chances. So now Azi had a handful of transponder codes for legit freighters she had paid a small fortune for back on Kinooine, but the price was worth it as the bogus codes allowed her to keep doing business in this incredibly tense galaxy. Azi hadn't given the Turquoth YX-800 freighter the name _True North, _but she loved it just like she loved everything else about this ship…including its former owner. Luke Zanek had been an old Naboo smuggler at the twilight of his career when he found a teenage slave giving private dances to drunk freighter captains at the Glittering Gem Casino Resort. He had bought a private dance with her that first meeting and she had cursed the sexual longevity of human males, but instead of asking her to dance he instead had her sit beside him, and he just...talked. That first night he mostly talked about life in space, his regrets, and making amends for a selfish life. But by the third visit he began to talk about more, primarily his plan to free her. At first Azi was skeptical, maybe this old man was simply dreaming up a way to have his own personal sex slave she thought, but he stayed on Nar Shadaa for weeks, coming back to see her every day. And each time he came he always brought her a coat to cover herself, and food to eat while they talked, which would've been enough on its own since all the girls were perpetually starving from food restrictions. He never asked anything of her, and in time Azi began to see the old man as a father. Completely unlike the father she had had but never wanted.

They had made their escape a short time later, and for six years, the best six years of her life, she had flown the outer rim routes, running Ryll, unregistered Bacta, and other illicit, but not necessarily immoral goods. There had always been a sense of urgency to Luke's teachings, and Azi didn't know until the end that it was born from Luke's knowledge of the degenerate heart disease that eventually took his life over a year ago. She missed him all the time, and every room of the _True North _held its own bittersweet memory of him…her savior. But she had his knowledge of the stars, and the values he held so dear, and she made a promise to live up to them always. The stars outside her trans-paristeel view port returned to normalcy as she came out of hyperspace on the edge of the Ord Mantell system. Azi was headed to the central planet in the system, the aptly named Ord Mantell. Specifically, the Republic occupied Fort Garnik. The planet itself was a relic from a bygone era, an era that aliens like Azi, and most decent humans were glad was gone, but an era the Empire wished to return the galaxy to. The Ord in Ord Mantell stood for Ordinance Regional Depot. The system was designed as a shield for human settlers in the expanse. A bulwark against the savage alien aggression of the outer rim, and numerous human worlds in the mid and outer rim still shared this prefix. In the hold were four dozen Vatek R-12 Blaster Rifles, a dozen Czerka E-Webb cannons, and half a compartment of ration packs and food stuffs. Usually weapons were prohibited contraband on the _True North,_ but since Azi was on her way to restock the besieged Ord Mantellian militia on a place called Drelliad, that self-imposed rule was bent this time. About eight years ago, disillusioned with the galactic stalemate and the economic hardship that it was bringing to the buffer worlds, Ord Mantell's Parliament backed by a majority of the systems noble houses raised an army to take control of the planet and announce their allegiance to the Republic. Technically a no-no for a neutral zone world according to the Treaty of Coruscant. Under normal circumstances a civil war would be met with Republic diplomats and the threat of economic sanctions, but these were not normal times and the Republic could not be seen as a government that would not protect those that desired to be with them. In response, the Imperials had raised their own proxy army and now the loyalist militia had been hemmed in on this island with only a few weeks of food and ammo left. Azi, like Luke had been, was sympathetic to the Republic cause which was partly why she took the job, the other part being the 10,000 credits she was offered upon delivery. But creds aside, she had seen a galaxy without order and she had seen a life without freedom. The galaxy could be incredibly cruel, and she owed it to Luke's memory to do what she could, when she could. Being a Twilek of the green skinned Ketia race, Azi' was born on the Twilek homeworld of Ryloth. Despite the Republic's anti-slavery laws, and Ryloth's status as a founding member of the Republic, they managed to use a number of Hutt intermediaries to keep their lucrative industry of shapely young females thriving. Due to their inherent beauty and the all too accommodating nature of Twilek males, Twilek females were the largest victims of the galactic sex slave trade. So at the tender age of nine she was illegally sold into slavery on Nal Hutta to a Devaronian named Zil Varu. With Varu she had grown up on the smuggler's moon of Nar Shadaa in his awful pleasure palace. Abused both mentally and physically almost daily. But unlike most of the slaves Azi lived with in that hopeless place, the universe deemed her worthy of a miracle and she was determined not to waste it.

Seeing the brown, green, and blue orb that was Ord Mantell growing larger in the view port she began checking her approach vectors. Running the ship was technically a two person job, but Luke had managed it after his partner was killed by the Hutts, and she could manage it for now. True North was a spacer term for galactic north which was always toward the core, but it had a deeper philosophical meaning. True north was also a term coined by the famous philosopher Uueg Tching as a metaphor for one's morals, likening our struggle to stay on the lighted path to a spacer trying to stay on course. Azi herself had never been a believer in the traditional Rylothian faith, or the wider galactic faith of the Force, but she believed in the principles behind that belief. And she knew this moral compass had led her here, to the planet that encompassed all of the forward view port now. She finalized the last adjustments to her approach vector and settled in behind the controls. Some of the larger spaceports in the core had automated landing services, which was necessary for even the most seasoned flier due to the high traffic on most inner planets, but not here, which suited Azi just fine as she liked to use automation as little as possible outside hyperspace travel. She had accepted the contract on behalf of a local crime boss named Vidu Grunn, and had picked up the cargo in Imperial space from

Rogun the Butcher, probably the largest blaster runner in the rim. She was to meet with Vidu, who had spent most of the war requisitioning on the side of Republic backed Mantellian Militia, at his estate in the middle of Fort Garnik. Which doubled as the Republic's headquarters on Ord Mantell.

Landing on an open air pad attached to a hangar, she shut down the _North's _sublight engines before grabbing her brown bantha hide jacket and moving to the stern. As the hatch of her ship lowered itself into a ramp she could see the two humans, Vidu would have undoubtedly sent to meet her, waiting at the edge of the loading bay in the midmorning sun. Walking down the ramp the younger one strode to the bottom to greet her. He was handsome, in a boyish human kind of way. With wavy dark hair that hung almost to his eyes in the front, and to the base of his neck in the back. He had penetrating hazel eyes that accentuated his olive skin, but now seeing him in the shade of the roof's overhang, she could see he had a terrible set of three parallel scars running from his right temple to his left dimple. "You must be Azi'Tivi Caruna right? I'm Corso Riggs" he said not waiting for her answer since who else could she be "got into a disagreement with a Savrip a few years back" he said indicating the scars as Azi nodded but looked away too quickly. As she took his outstretched hand he turned to the other man standing by the bay door, "this is Skavak, we're with Vidu…as I'm guessing you know". The man by the door swaggered out, taking Azi's hand in his own he kissed the back of it. "Pleased to meet you Captain, I must say you're quite beautiful for someone in this line of work" he said with his most charming smile, Corso behind him looking wholly uncomfortable with his blatant attempt at flirtation. Azi had grown so used to this behavior from the men she did business with that it was more surprising to meet someone who didn't do it…like Corso. Skavak was a bit taller than Corso, with a large facial tattoo on the right side. Looking far more the criminal weapons runner than the fairly innocent looking Corso. "Really? No one has ever told me that before, thank you" she answered sarcastically. "Nice to meet you both" Azi said as she entered the bay 14 loading area. "So…how did Vidu want to do this?" she asked. The two henchman traded an uncomfortable look, "well…there's a little problem" Corso admitted somewhat shyly and Azi couldn't help but wonder again what he was doing working for a crime lord like Vidu. If it wasn't for those ghastly scars he would look more comfortable in a university library. "Already? That was quick" she joked. "What the kid means is the Seps got hold of our defensive batteries between here and Ft. Garnik and we cannot safely transport the merchandise until they are back in our hands". Glancing at the empty crates and waiting loader droids "Oh…well, what are you guys going to do about that?" Azi inquired bracing for what she knew to be coming. "Ma'am what I think Skavak means is it's all in our best interest to take back those batteries so we can complete the deal and you can be on your way" Corso said.

"First off don't call me ma'am, I'm still in my twenties, secondly will we have help in this endeavor?"

"Of course" Corso blurted. "What I mean is we'll be joining with the 8th Mantellian Infantry."

At that Skavak reclaimed his perch against the bay wall "actually kids I think it's best if I hang here and watch the goods"

"Hell I can take that job!" Azi cried incredulous

"Yes but you have to go in to Ft. Garnik anyway do you not? Vidu is not coming here to make paym-"

"Alright! Alright!" Azi cut off the cowardly protest then looked at Corso, "are we ready then?"

"yes ma- miss, we're to meet Captain Adavan at this spot on Krillo road" he said pointing at his data pad not realizing it meant nothing to someone who had never set foot on Ord Mantell. Walking out of the spaceport Azi felt a sense of unease.

"Azi is fine from here on in kid, can I trust this guy with my ship?" she said as they walked to the speeder parked outside on the dusty street. "Who? Skavak? Yeah he's committed to the cause. It'll be fine…and Corso will be fine from here on in" Corso answered as they piled into the banged up land speeder, and Azi smiled tightly to spite herself.

Thirty minutes later Azi and Corso were still moving down Krillo road in their old Ditek land speeder. The landscape brought back a twinge of old memories from her childhood memories on Ryloth. Jagged rock formations interspersed with small patches of tall grass. Corso hadn't said more than two words, and the interminable silence was starting to gnaw at her. "So how did you start working for Vidu?" she asked and Corso finally brought his gaze from the landscape outside to Azi "I…well I'm sort of the go between for the loyalist militia and Vidu. I started out with the 1st infantry division but eventually I felt I could do more as an independent agent." He finished and then returned his gaze to the window. "So you're pretty invested in the outcome here?" she asked and this time he snapped his eyes back to hers "that's a question I've been asking myself for months. It used to mean everything to me. Ord Mantell is my home, and I used to feel like I would die before I saw it under the thumb of a totalitarian empire." he stopped to look down at this stomach obviously still searching how to explain his conflicting thoughts. "And what's changed?" she asked, truly interested now. It took a couple starts and stops before he got out his answer "nothing in the way I feel about my home, it's just lately I've felt as if I'm not seeing the big picture…why should Ord Mantell be the only free system? He asked himself more than Azi "you've seen what's going on out there don't you ever want to do something more?" he said this time clearly asking her now. She took a few seconds herself before responding "my father used to say we can only control what we can control. Everything else is out of our hands and in the hands of the universe." seeing the disappointment in Corso's face at her answer she went on "I do what I can where I can…like bringing weapons to the militia. I wouldn't have taken the job if it was a delivery to the Separatists." He seemed a little more appeased by her answer and smiled "you're right…it's just so frustrating sometimes". Flashing a smile of her own she said "you're right about that." Moving up a small rise Azi could now see the open clearing Corso had been jabbing his finger at, where a squad of two dozen soldiers waited with their borrowed Captain from the Republic Army. Stopping the speeder short of the soldiers and their hover tank, Azi could see a middle aged human in the white and blue

Armor of the Galactic Republic barking orders to a motley assortment of Mantellian

defenders with their sparse armor and mismatched uniforms. Captain Tien Adavan was a surprisingly short man, surprising to Azi at least since she pictured all soldiers as large alpha men, but what he lacked in height he made up for in an innate hardness evident even before he spoke. He had a square jaw that seemed to connect perfectly to squared off military style haircut which sat on top of a face scarred in only the way a life at war could. "Are you the two whelps Vidu sent us?" he said as he approached the parked speeder. Before Azi could answer Corso showed her the deception in his appearance. Meeting Adavan chin to nose, "Vidu sent us, but watch who you call whelps. I may look young but I've been fighting this war while you've been running drills on Coruscant". Adavan closed the slight remaining gap between the two, "you better watch it boy" Adavan said gritting his teeth and Azi could see Corso's jaw clench in anger. Fighting through the waves of testosterone she moved between the two, "alright boys, you want to dial it back. He's Corso, I'm Azi, and you're Captain Adavan. Now are we going to take back these batteries or what?" Adavan's professionalism eventually won over as he took a step back, "we're ready, and you're the one who knows this area best. We have a holomap set up in our command tent if you want to show us the best routes to move towards these installations" he said indicating his command center, as Azi and Corso moved to follow. Walking behind Adavan Azi had to acknowledge the flutter in her stomach. She had never seen real combat. Sure there had been a few running blaster battles against rival smugglers and Imperial authorities but Azi had never been sure she'd ever even shot anybody. Now she was going into battle. Looking around her as they walked she could see she wasn't the only one; young soldiers of the 8th regiment of the Mantellian militia stood around smoking cigarras and laughing nervously at each other's jokes. Most were young human males but Azi noticed a couple human females and a myriad of aliens…no Twi'leks though. As she passed one group she heard the conversation quickly change "by the Force would you look at that" said a large human probably not twenty yet. "What do they put in the water on Ryloth" said a Devaronian. Compared to her old life this was almost flattering and as long as they didn't grab her she really didn't care. "Hey Corso you bring us some entertainment?" Ok that kind of stung but before she could turn around and give the private sitting on the hover tank a piece of her mind she heard Corso speak up behind her "Reely you don't know what the hell you're talking about. She's here to rearm you and help you take back the checkpoint so stuff it!" Azi just chuckled to herself as she ducked under the tent flap and turned around to hold it for Corso "thanks protector" she said with a sarcastic smile "oh that wasn't…sorry, I never liked that guy anyway" he said flustered.

"Nah it was sweet, I'm just giving you a hard time" she said as he passed by her and she let the tent flap fall back into place.

By midday they had a plan of attack. Azi, aware her skill set lacked military tactics left most of the planning to Corso and Adavan. That plan involved three six-man squads of the planetary militia and the hover tank taking the low valley and basically playing the bait, drawing the fire of the batteries entrenched on the cliffs on either side of Krillo road, While two teams moved up the ridge lines, taking the emplacements by surprise. They had to clear camp and move fast in case the Seps got their probe droid sweeps going in their newly claimed territory. After an hour of humping it through rocky and rugged terrain Azi, Corso and one of the other six man squads began climb up the eastern ridge, careful to stay out of the sight line of the battery on the opposite ridge. At the same time Adavan took the last remaining squad up the western ridge at the same pace. The plan hinged on timing. If one of the teams attacked too soon the gunners across the valley would see their comrades were under attack and level their guns at the ridge while hunkering down for the attack they now knew would be coming. Crawling on her stomach up the ridge Azi cursed her absent minded mistake of leaving her goggles on the ship. She was given an old nicked up armor cuirass with her brown leather jacket over the top, a leather helmet with a face curtain that was at least keeping the dust out of her lungs and nostrils. She remembered her helmet with its cloth face covering which was now keeping most of the dirt and dust out of her lungs and nostrils. She also couldn't help but think what the young boys who had only hours ago been making cracks about her backside, were doing now directly behind it. Minutes later the teams reached the ambush line, any further advancement would break their cover. It was now a waiting game as the bait came barreling down the road to draw their fire, and more importantly their attention. Two minutes later Azi could see the tank's cannon break the horizon line as it motored over the last ridge before streaming down into the valley which up until this morning had been a loyalist checkpoint guarding the way into Ft. Garnik. Azi was lying flat against the dusty ground watching her nervous breath create a mini sandstorm in the dust. She instinctively checked her hip with its dual holster and both blasters cleaned and fully powered. As she looked out across the valley again she saw the dual barrels of the western plasma cannon begin to move south tracking the incoming tank with its infantry escort. At the same time she could only hear the hydraulics of the guns thirty meters ahead of her begin to move as well. For a moment all she could hear was the distant whine of the tanks engine as it moved closer to the chokepoint. The silence was nerve-wrecking. She didn't think it had grown more silent but just the knowledge that the silence would be broken in a tremendous way made it all the more palpable. Azi looked at Corso laying just ahead of her. He seemed completely serene as he stared at the top of the burn they would be charging over any moment. The more she looked at him instead of the dirt, the more strength she seemed to draw from his confidence. Suddenly, without warning, it happened. The laser batteries opened up on the valley road below, each salvo sending a discharge of ionized gas over the ridge that could be overwhelming even at this distance. Azi turned her head, trying to see the situation in the valley, hoping she didn't see bodies strewn across the road. She had only spent a short time with them, and most of that was rejecting good natured flirtation, but it was long enough to see these were just young boys and girls in the prime of their lives who had volunteered to fight to save their homes, and she couldn't help but admire them for it. _Blast!_ She couldn't see anything and her stomach started to twist as her mind imagined the worst possible outcome. Azi checked her chrono, just 10 seconds to their synchronized attack. She looked at Corso who gave her a confident nod and she had just enough time to ask the Force she claimed not to believe in for protection before he yelled "Now!" and with that the squad charged over the burn firing as they ran down into the sunken reinforced emplacement. The plasma cannon itself sat in a sunken duracrete bunker with just an opening for the cannon. An outer wall reinforced the bunker on all three sides built into the rock. Corso and Adavan had both said the complex would have no less than four defenders. Two to operate the cannon, one to sight, and one or two walking the alleys between reinforced outer walls and the bunker. She just had to hope that they would have no more than four. The best course of action would be to climb to the front of the bunker and lob in a couple thermal detonators, but they needed the cannons intact so they would have to do this the hard way. They got lucky. Either they hadn't had time to set up proper security or they were just incompetent, either way there were no guards outside the bunker. Jumping down into the alley, Privates Tello and Vann readied the explosive charge for the door. Looking across the valley she could see Adavan's team readying their breach as well…and if she could see them than so could…her thought was interrupted by the durasteel reinforced door flying out, knocking Privates Telo and Van on to their backsides and sending the charge up into the air and bouncing off the outer wall. There was a moment of utter confusion followed by fear as enemies watched in silence to see if the charge would detonate and their brief collective existence in this universe was coming to an end. Watching the charge settle to the alley's ground without a bright flash brought everyone back to the here and now. Unfortunately, it was the separatist who was the first to react, leveling his blaster rifle at Corso from a meter away. Azi, who still had her back to the wall next to the door, raised her own blaster and fired from point blank range into the head of the guard. The shot was from too close for the young man's helmet to do anything to stop it, and he crumpled to the ground. Azi would later take comfort in the fact that he never saw it coming, but she had no time for that now as she heard an explosion from the battery across the valley followed closely by Corso yelling "go!" Charging into the bunker the haze of smoke quickly filled the poorly ventilated room. Unlike in the holo's, in the heat of battle it's extremely difficult to tell who hit who, but she could see one more Sep go down before they lost the element of surprise. Azi couldn't spare a glance through the opening to her west but she hoped the attack was going well, or else they all may go up in a blinding light if the defenders still had control over there and felt this battle was lost over here. The last two had taken cover behind the gun as Azi and the militiamen looked for cover of their own behind crates of plasma shells. The last thing they needed was for them to get entrenched behind cover. No sooner had the thought of a long and bloody stalemate crossed her mind than Corso ran out from behind his cover and leapt into the pit below the cannon's twin arms. Azi was sure he had just committed suicide when shots were fired, but a second later blaster rifles clattered to the ground from behind the cannon, and Azi gave the signal to hold fire and yelled "come out with hands in the air! Not on your head or behind your head, you get me!" Four empty hands shot up above the cannon followed by two helmeted heads "yeah we get you…we surrender" the older man said with a look of barely contained fury. "Alright boys gun's ours!" she heard from the grease pit below the cannon arms and looked to see Corso climb out covered head to toe in cannon lube.

Back at the tent, the surviving twenty soldiers were full of nervous energy. Talking excitedly and gesticulating wildly about their actions in the battle. It was the typical embellishment and machismo that was the same for young men of all species across the galaxy, but it still made her smile. Even though deep down Azi hated what had happened this morning. She didn't know the separatists and didn't like the things she heard about them, but it didn't change the fact that sentient beings died today. Mothers lost sons and sons lost fathers and mothers. Just then Corso approached to snap her out of her suddenly morose mood, "Captain? Are you ready to head to Ft. Garnik? It'll take a couple hours over land" he said seeming a little down himself. Land speeders were the default mode of transportation on Ord Mantell. Only the wealthiest residents could afford air speeders, but even they were traveling in land speeders now. With the war anything in the air made for a juicy target.

"Sure…I've said my goodbyes" Azi said. Noticing his thousand yard stare she added,

"Why aren't you over there getting drunk and boasting with the others? You were the hero"

"I've just had enough of this damn fight" he said turning for the speeder. Suddenly he stopped and turned back. "One of the guys killed today…Armen…we grew up together" Azi pulled up, "Corso…I'm sorry" she said and was caught by her own sincerity.

"Yeah thanks, and so am I" trying to be a bit more cheerful as he gripped the top of the speeder's passenger door "I mean its war right? It sure ain't pretty but what choice do we have? This isn't some resource driven war being fought on behalf of corporations or greedy governments, this is the fate of my planet, it doesn't get more necessary than that" he finished, biting into the last line.

"Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself?" not waiting for an answer she opened the door and plopped down in the driver's seat of the open top land speeder, "c'mon get in…I'll drive us the rest of the way to Garnik".

The largest cities on Ord Mantell were the gambling mecca's of Worlport and Great Rock, both on the southern continent, and the southern hemisphere held the bulk of the planet's twenty three million beings. The northern continents were far more sparse, Ft. Garnik was really nothing more than a command center, couple warehouses, and two cantinas. Vidu had set up shop at the larger of the two warehouses right on the corner of the only intersection in town. They parked around the side and walked up to the main entrance. Azi noticed the bland architecture of hastily fabricated buildings all in the utilitarian gray that was so common for Republic bases in the outer rim. Walking up the few steps to the warehouses pedestrian entrance, Corso pressed the intercom. "Vidu, its Corso and Captain Zanek". Without a reply the door slid open with a _woosh, _disappearing into a pocket in the wall. The bottom floor of the warehouse looked exactly as it should with loader droids moving freight while being overseen by some flesh and blood shipping foreman. Upstairs at the entrance to Vidu's office was a young perky human woman with short black hair, "hi Corso" she flashed a big toothy smile which Corso returned, "hey Sereda, this is the Captain Azi'Tivi Zanek" Sereda turned towards Azi and gave her that same big ear to ear grin "Captain Azi'Tivi Zanek" she said holding out her hand for Azi to take in that human greeting of trust that had become the standard for galactic introductions. Azi took her hand and flashed her own smile be it less enthusiastically. "I'm Sereda Dano, Vidu's personal assistant, he's waiting for you right this way if you'll follow me" and with that she was gone walking briskly for the open threshold with soft light pouring out. Inside that doorway was a study in contrast from the dingy warehouse outside. It was expensively carpeted in purple and red with gold trimming, a large highly polished Myron oak dining table sat in the middle under a gold chandelier. Fruit from across the galaxy was laid out in wicker looms and formed the table's centerpiece with two bottles of wine sitting near either end of the table. The large man at the head of the table could only be the Mantellian crime lord. Decked out in a fine red silk tunic, he was a large middle aged man who, judging by the size of his midsection and the plate of food in front of him, appeared to not have a fine grasp on moderation. His cheeks and nose were slightly reddened from a love of drink and his black hair was balding on top. As they approached he put down his silverware, wiped his mouth with a silk napkin from his lap and held a welcoming arm out "Corso! I see you finally got here" he paused as Azi and Corso came to a stop, and gave Azi the cursory head to toe inspection she had become so familiar with, "and my oh my, you have to be the most beautiful smuggler I've ever seen" he said once he was done picturing her naked. Azi gave a polite smile and introduced herself before the chivalrous Corso did it for her. There was an awkward second as Vidu gave her another once over before an embarrassed Corso, standing next to her, drew his attention back to the here and now with a well-timed throat clearance, "right, well…sit please, I have some Esselian wine here or some Corellian brandy in the bar if you prefer something a little stronger" saying the last line as seductively as he could while trying to hold Azi's eye contact. She had to stop herself from laughing out loud for fear of sabotaging the deal. In between her and Vidu, Corso said "actually boss I'd prefer an ale if you got one?" Vidu shook his head ruefully at Corso before turning to Sereda behind him, "sweetheart get the brigand some of that homebrewed swill would you?" looking back at Azi he started to speak but she beat him to, "I'm fine Vidu, I will take some of this Borugu though" Azi hadn't seen the fruit in a few years. It was a large tree grown fruit from Bastion in the heart of the Empire, and with the trade embargo even smugglers with an affinity for it had a tough time getting a hold of it.

After a bit of small talk they got down to business. Contrary to Azi's initial impression of Vidu he turned out to be a likeable guy who seemed to have a real zest for life, which Azi always found an admirable quality. After relenting to one glass of very good wine Azi suggested they call Skavak to make sure he had the cargo unloaded, and after a look of resignation that made Vidu look like a child who had just been told all his birthday guests were going home, he activated the built in holocomm at his end of the table, Skavak materialized but only from the neck up which meant he was using the comm on the bridge of the ship, but why would- before the question formulated she had the answer, and she stood so fast her chair fell over behind her. With all the venom her lithe voice could muster she said "What are you doing on my bridge Skavak?" Corso and Vidu exchanged confused glances.

Without hesitating Skavak began to smile, "I figured the comm would give me away, not that it matters much anymore, thanks for the ship Captain, she handles like a dream" he said with a wink

"Bring back the ship now and you have my word I'll let you live" she said slamming her fist down on the table.

"And the blasters too you backstabbing thief!" Vidu bellowed finally coming to the realization of what was happening and standing himself.

"Sit down and shut up!" Skavak snapped "I've had enough of your grief Vidu, and to put it simply you will have enough to worry about with Rogun to concern yourself with me…and Captain? Good luck with your chase but I think you'll find out soon your starting at a major disadvantage" with that Skavak severed the connection, and Vidu slammed his fist down on the table as well "that bastard! Sereda! Get in here" Azi looked to Corso who still was sitting quietly, Azi couldn't imagine he was in on it but at this point she didn't know what to think, "Corso? I'm only going to ask this once" but before she could he snapped out of it, "No I wouldn't betray my own people Captain hence I wouldn't betray you" The intensity in his dark green eyes confirmed this as truth to her, but her anger remained "you said I could trust him!" she yelled "because I trusted him!" he yelled back standing himself "this may be hard for you to realize right now but he's betrayed all of us! We needed those weapons" he said, defeatedly falling back into his seat "without them…or without the Republic breaking the treaty" he let the implication hang there for all to see and Azi realized he was right, and she was mostly angry with herself. Even though her intuition had never let her down she still didn't have the confidence to trust it. This time it cost her ship, and the maybe the planet of Ord Mantell. "Alright, I apologize Corso… now what are we going to do to rectify this? And what did he mean about this disadvantage" she said in a tone she hoped reconciled the heat in her accusation.

"I have no idea" Corso answered. Azi's look must've forced his optimism to rush to the surface "don't worry Captain, Vidu will have a plan…we'll get your ship back. I promise" he said with an unsure smile. Vidu on the other hand was in the corner of the room with Sereda talking in hush tones, Corso was right she knew, this would be a bigger problem for Vidu, Corso, and Ord Mantell than it would be for her, although it sure didn't feel that way right now. While she was concerned about the True North a ship could be replaced, Vidu had to be concerned about his life. I doubt he could afford that kind of weaponry out of his pocket with his small time operation, and the Republic surely would not pay for weapons they could not use, and Rogun had a nickname earned in situations not unlike this one…the Butcher. He was one of the largest independent arms dealers in the rim and he hadn't got there by showing mercy. To Rogun the Butcher life was far cheaper than the wares he peddled, and Vidu knew without resolution he would end up the next cautionary tale for another planetary fence. As if reading Azi's thought's Vidu ran over with a look of panic "we got bigger problems" he said, near hyperventilation the big man had to sit back down. Azi leaned across the table "how could we have bigger problems than this?" She asked incredulous. "Skavak must've been coordinating with the Sep's, about an hour ago the loyalist commander on Drelliad Island…surrendered it" Vidu said now slumped in his throne chair. Corso however shot bolt upright again

"you can't be serious?" Corso demanded

"Serious about what?" Azi pleaded "what's the significance of this island? And I thought they had weeks or months to hold out?!" it was Corso who turned to her "Captain, I don't know why they surrendered but I do know that Drelliad Island is _the_ OP center that controls all air defenses on the planet".

"What? I thought that was here?" Azi said in disbelief

"I'm afraid not Captain. Ft. Garnik is the strategic command center for the Republic's covert war effort but Drelliad is…or was the headquarters for the loyalist army and controls the continents automated defenses" Vidu answered looking dazed.

"Stop beating around the bush, what are you telling me?" Azi demanded

"It means that unless you have clearance to leave Ord Mantell with the Sep leaders, you couldn't leave even if you had your ship" Corso answered. With that Azi grabbed the bottle of Esselian Red and took a long pull.

**CH. 3 **

Kai'Kwon and Orgus arrived in Kalikori village right at dusk. Named for the Twi'lek phrase meaning "new beginnings", Kalikori village sat on a large mountain plateau further up Tythos Ridge, part of the same large navigable area in the Mataki Mountains that the Jedi built their Temple. The village proper was simply a circle of small one story duraplast homes with a small central market of open air vendors. The village was comprised of Twilek refugees who had arrived about twenty years earlier seeking that "new beginning". Unlike most refugees they were not fleeing the war so much as they were the persecution they faced on Ryloth. They were a matriarchal society where the women were superior to the men, with a hereditary female leader known as the Matriarch. This completely flew in the face of Rylothian Twilek culture which placed females at the bottom rung of society, completely subservient in every way. Their heretical view came from their own interpretation of the _Ry'shiva_, or ancient Rylothian holy text, and that interpretation saw them hunted down to the brink of extinction by Clan Fasuna, the current ruling house on Ryloth. However, Matriarch Caruna was able to rally the clan and escape to Coruscant where they met two members of the Council after being denied settlement rights by the Senate. The Jedi had agreed to hear their plight, and offered them their own sanctuary here on Tython. Since then they had grown food, a trick at this altitude, and herded Cu-pa's for the Temple in return for the security proffered by the Jedi. In the nearly twenty years they had been here they had only called upon the Jedi to help search for villagers lost on the mountain. While it could be surmised that many of them fell prey to the flesh raiders that lived in the craggy mountain's cave complex, never had they had to call upon the Order for active security, the Jedi's mere presence alone had been enough of a deterrent…or so they thought. Kai-Kwon had never heard of the non-sentient Flesh Raiders organizing a raid, and with Tython's location in the galactic core, surrounded by black holes and other spatial anomalies, it did not make a prime location for bandits. After leaving the speeder bikes with the local maintenance droid they walked the last kilometer to the town center. The dirt trail was being blanketed in the first clean snow of the year, a snow that represented a purification of the land to all that lived in the mountains; Kalikorian and Jedi alike. The trail served as the lone entrance into the village, and was lined by small Cu'Pa farms on either side, walking down they received polite waves or nods but both Jedi could sense the fear and apprehension in these people, these were anything but not normal animal attacks. Flesh Raiders were native to Tython and were named such because of their penchant for raw meat, but they usually hunted other wildlife, and almost always did so in pairs or groups of three or four at the most, but never the numbers that were described in these two raids. They were not completely unaware, and in fact had been classified as semi-sentient, which meant they could understand language but not formulate any words themselves. They were large bi-pedal reptilian creatures with large clawed, three-digited hands and a long middle digit, which they used primarily to disembowel their prey. Past the village center a trail led up to the Matriarchal house, which stood out as it was the only two story building in the village. Not all too feed the Matriarch's ego, as the bottom floor doubled as the village's meeting hall where they took part in a form of direct democracy with Matriarch Caruna offering direction. She was revered more for her spiritual guidance than political or administrative abilities and usually concurred with the majority vote. At the foot of the steps leading to the house, Kai and Din were met by Caruna's emissary and daughter Ryu. A blue skinned Rutian Twilek, she was short with a skinny physique, purple eyes and traditionally tattooed lekku, or head tails where Twileks stored their phenomenal memory. She was wearing a ceremonial white robe and gown that marked her as part of the line of Matriarch's. She gave the Jedi a polite bow that they both returned. Kai-Kwon could sense the same fear in her that seemed to reside with everyone in the village. But also the same apprehension that appeared to be directed at the Jedi's arrival.

"Master Jedis, were so grateful you could come, would you care for something to eat or drink?" she said with the raw emotion of the past few nights still evident in her voice.

"We would be very grateful for some tea" Master Orgus began as Ryu turned to her aide who turned to head inside leaving the three of them standing under the gently falling snow. "But I must confess we were mystified by your message, and frankly our arrival has not cleared it up. In the few flesh raider attacks we have a record of, homes are destroyed in their search for food, livestock is slaughtered and carried away, but the village buildings seem untouched, and the Cu'Pa pens of your farmers looked full, so if you or the matriarch could explain what's happening we can begin to figure out a solution to your problem"

Ryu looked down at her boots and then back up before speaking again "well you see that is one of our problems, the Matriarch has taken ill and has left me to speak in her stead".

"Ill? With what?" Kai'Kwon asked, knowing the matriarch was only middle aged in a Twilek lifespan.

"We're not sure Master" she said turning to Kai-Kwon, "she collapsed shortly before the first attack three nights ago".

"Has she woken since?" Kai'Kwon asked, but Din Orgus pre-empted Ryu's answer saying "May we go inside? I can smell that pleasant brew from out here" he said with a tight smile. "I also don't think it a good idea to discuss particulars out here" he said indicating with his chin the curious villagers who were starting to gather, "hearing bits of our conversation will only lead to rumors and possibly more panic" Din counseled.

"Of course master your right, this way" and with that Ryu led the two Jedi into the main building.

The village hall looked pleasantly democratic, with simple chairs forming a circle around a speaking podium. Empty carafes sat on the table against the back wall, under a serving window that led to the kitchen. A holoprojector lined the bottom of the adjacent wall. To the left was a partially hidden staircase that led to the Matriarch's living quarters. Ryu led the two Jedi to the kitchen where her green skinned assistant was just pouring the hot tea into three cups on the dining table. The three took a seat around the table. Taking a sip of his tea Orgus commented "interesting spice" In the dim light of the kitchen Kai saw Ryu look down before saying "it's uh...my mother's recipe…she won't even tell me" flashing a quick smile. Kai couldn't taste any spice but then he had never had the pallet for tea the way his old Master did. The three spoke in hushed tones as if their loud voices could disturb her mother's recovery. "As I said three nights ago was the first attack, the flesh raiders attacked just after sunset, but they seemed to have no interest in scavenging food. Instead they just attacked, killing four of our people before we could rally our warriors, and by then they had disappeared…back into the mountains." she said absently stirring her tea as if she was reliving the horror of that night in flashes of memory before her eyes. "We thought it was just a freak occurrence. That the raiders had failed to store enough food for the winter and attacked us out of desperation. That was until we found our people..." she paused as if to ready her mind for the gruesome recollection that followed. "Not only were they not taken for food, but…they had been killed by blades" she let the implication set in.

"Hold on Ryu" Kai-Kwon interrupted "are you sure?" worried he had offended her he amended his question "I only mean that blades and a razor sharp claw can look very similar in the way it cuts. Could it be that they were readying to carry off their kills when your warriors startled them?" she looked to Master Din who nodded for her to answer.

"absolutely certain, if only by the eyewitnesses who saw them wielding the vibroswords, and soon after these reports were confirmed by our doctor who analyzed the killing blows and found the slashes to be much smoother than the jagged tears their claws make on the flesh of the Cu'Pa carcasses we have found in the past". This news was troubling on multiple levels. Not only did this newfound predilection to using weapons make them more dangerous, but it also hinted at an evolving awareness. The entire attack hinted at an organizational level incapable to a non-sentient species. After further discussion the two Jedi had heard about the second attack last night which mirrored the first and had resolved to head up the mountain at dawn. Before being shown to their lodgings Master Din turned to Ryu and said "mistress, if you would like we could contact the Temple and ask that they send a healer for your Matriarch" she smiled softly at Master Din "thank you Master Jedi but our healer is confident and assures me she will recover soon" she said stopping at the top step and clasping her hands behind her back in a posture that said she won't hear any more on the matter

Orgus looked up at the young girl with an understanding look "I understand…but if anything should change-"

"if that happens we will revisit your kind offer." she said smiling for the first time and offering a short bow of goodbye, which both Jedi returned after a moment. "Thank you again and I will see you upon your return" Ryu called to them from the top of the steps as the Jedi walked across the fresh snow behind the green skinned assistant leading them to the guest lodge.

Back at the simple cabin the clan kept empty but prepared for any visitors, Kai unpacked his satchel and made ready for bed, before turning out the light he looked to Orgus and asked "what's to understand?"

The older Jedi pulled himself up halfway from bed resting on his elbows, "what's that?"

"Back at the Matriarch's you asked Ryu if she would like us to-"

"Yes that was a bit abrupt, but they are an exclusive community" din said with a hint of resignation as he lay back down "they do not trust outside medicine or tools…even the Force"

"But Master, they're utilizing the-"

"it's not our place to cast judgments on the beliefs of others Kai'Kwon, now go to sleep so we can use the Force to help these people stay alive whether they like it or not" Din said with a knowing smirk.

The next morning the snow was falling in flurries of wind as the two Jedi mounted their bikes. The trail up the mountain would soon become impassable on the bikes but the more walking distance they could shave off the more endurance they could keep in reserve if it was needed. Heading up into the jagged peaks Kai couldn't shake the feeling that something was just off about the villagers. He had only been to Kalikori once before to help guide a recently purchased herd of Cu'Pa's so he knew he didn't have any deep insight into how they should be acting, just that he felt their behavior was somehow odd. They left the speeder bikes at a clearing overlooking the flesh raider's home valley. They had chosen this spot most likely due to its underground network of tunnels and warrens that flesh raider society thrived in. The valley was especially menacing looking with jagged volcanic rock formations that mirrored the razor sharp teeth of the species that called these rocks home. Looking at the valley Kai-Kwon couldn't keep the image of a flesh raider's jaw wrapped around his neck, the brief thought only added to the dread and foreboding feeling that this valley held. Not long in sensing his disquiet Orgus looked over "careful of your thoughts Kai-Kwon. Imagine it and it will be so" he said looking back at the valley below. "I understand Master…but the flesh raiders are really peripheral right now" Kai-Kwon answered not knowing if he just wanted to rebut the implication that he was scared. "The villagers then?" he asked knowing his mind better than Kai-Kwon felt he knew it himself sometimes. "Yes Master, I found their behavior…unsettling".

"As if they were more afraid of us then the Flesh Raiders?" Orgus said looking back to him.

"Yes…Yes" Kai-Kwon said finally having his nagging thought put into words by someone else. "I don't understand it. I know many in the galaxy fear us out of ignorance but the villagers know us. They've relied on us, and we on them" he said his voice rising slightly, to which Master Din held out a quieting hand. "I sensed it too Kai-Kwon but we must keep our thoughts focused on the present. These Raiders are not to be underestimated." he said pulling his hood back over his head before steadying himself on Kai's arm. "Master?...are you alright" Din shook his head as if shaking off the sudden bout of dizziness before saying "fine. The altitude or the air threw me off for a moment. Come now, we have a mission". With that the two began their climb down into the craggy valley below.

Approaching the nexus of trails they had just spied from above Kai sensed a disturbance in the force, before he could relay this warning to Din, his former Master's hand was already on his forearm advising caution. Suddenly out of his peripheral vision Kai noticed something in the air over his right shoulder, looking up just in time to see two behemoth flesh raiders descending down upon him with sword and axe raised overhead. He rolled to his left, coming up in a crouch with an audible thrum and the blue flash of his light saber raised in the defensive posture of Soresu form. Immediately Kai noticed that both warriors were wearing an armor chest plate of some type of alloy painted black. Also noticeable was the lack of noise. Raiders were notorious for their loud war cries while attacking…but these two attacked silently, as if they had been given a course in ambushing. Kai blocked the thrust of both weapons, holding off the axe blade with his blade and using his free hand to hit the second warrior with a quick force push that could only throw the beast off balance. Kai used that moment to turn defense into offense throwing off the axe blade, he followed with a sidekick to the warriors midsection just below the cheap armor chest plate, simultaneously bringing his blade in a downward stroke, decapitating the hunched over raider. Before the relief of victory could wash over him the warrior's partner was upon with a renewed sense of anger for his fallen comrade. In a berserker style attack, the lumbering raider made three repeated overhand thrusts, what the raiders had in brawn they evidently lacked in brains, as the attack left it open to a number of counters, Kai's chose the most appropriate without any real conscience input from his mind. On the Raider's fourth identical attack, its target quickly ducked, and in a flash it felt an unbearable pain from its stomach, still holding the vibroblade above his head, he looked down to see his new armor splintered open in a horizontal slash and through the twisted metal he could see his own blood start to pour out before collapsing to his knees, a flash of blue beneath his eyes darkened his world forever. Kai sheathed his blade after ending the suffering of the raider warrior and looked to see where Din's battle had taken him. Listening for the sounds of battle he could hear none, but a moment later he saw Din's head rise above a ridge unmolested by the two raiders that had ambushed him. He arrived back at the ambush site looking no worse the wear as Kai-Kwon took a quick moment over the bodies of their fallen attackers. "How far did they take you Master?" Kai asked when he arrived "It was I who took them up over the ridge, I didn't want us getting bunched up" His master replied, looking over the bodies with a reverence few outside the order would understand. Death was never to be taken lightly by those in the Order, no matter the recipient of that death. There would be no disrespect, no attempt at levity. While the Jedi held all life sacred, they made a clear distinction between sentient and non-sentient beings. While all animals and any creation of the force should be treated with respect and compassion, everything was part of the larger symbiosis of life. The lifeforce imbued in those rare sentient beings set them apart in the eyes of the Order. This distinction enabled the Jedi to eat meat when many civilians assumed they were vegetarians. This distinction also made this current battle all the more troubling to both Kai and Din. These tactics of tool use, self-preservation through the use of armor, even the ambush of two beings who were not part of its prey pool, hinted at an evolution of some kind. Which could change the nature of how they handled the Flesh Raider problem. As if reading Kai's mind Din broke the silence "this trouble's me Kai" he said rolling over one of the slain raiders with his hand to analyze its armor. "Me as well Master, I've read nothing that indicates these creatures had this level of awareness" Din stood and began briskly walking, putting a guiding hand on Kai's shoulder "That's because they didn't" looking back at the slain raiders one more time he found his focus and said "come, we have to get to the bottom of this".

A short trek later, and without further attack, both Jedi approached a large cave opening that had all the signs of being the place they were looking for. The fifteen foot opening was adorned on each side with animal skulls posted on sharp rocks, which Kai knew was a territorial signpost warning other Raider clans to keep moving. Raiders lived in highly independent clans. This independence generally kept them fighting against one another, but if they ever learned to cooperate…Just as Kai-Kwon was crossing the threshold into the cave Din again grabbed his elbow but this time with a look of caution rather than urgency. Knowing that look Kai asked "what are you sensing Master?" using the honorific still, but now as a Knight to a Master rather than a Padawan to his former teacher. Din looked at Kai and held up his left hand for patience. Kai thought to ask whether another ambush was coming but he knew better than to interrupt Din's connection to this disturbance he was sensing. After what felt like an eternity but was only just a few seconds Din looked up "let's keep searching, they wanted us to find this cave…we won't find any answers here". Kai's trust in Orgus Din was unwavering, and he felt no need to question his logic or senses. If he felt it, it must be so. He continued to trust those senses as they led them to a much smaller cave entrance a few miles up the mountain trail. Unlike the previous entrance this cave was smaller and not advertised in anyway, and yet Din moved right for it without a second guess... No skulls or ritual trinkets, just a thick net of vines hanging down over the pitch black maw. Upon entering the dank hole, the Jedi were forced to drop straight down about ten meters to an uneven cavern floor. Rising and gathering their first view of their surroundings they realized they would have to be guided by feel rather than sight, since this cave had even less natural light thanks to the greenery covering the entrance. Sensing their way through the utter blackness, the Jedi began to hear the steady rhythm of water droplets. Kai leaned out in the dark to feel the cavern wall and felt the lightly running water. Moving down a gradual incline Kai could make out his first hint of light, which appeared unnatural in its dimness. Suddenly he felt an urgency in the Force that he took as a warning. At the same time Din reached up and put a hand to Kai's shoulder forcing him down. Taking cover behind a low wall Kai didn't need the Force for the two sets of footfalls that resonated off the stone floor just below their makeshift cover. Waiting for their echoes to die out, Kai and Din lifted their heads just over the wall. The artificial light emanated from a collection of torches posted around a central spring. Above the spring was a series of stalactites and an opening to another cave complex. Through that opening came the steady run of water falling into the spring they first heard a kilometer back. Down below them in front of the spring were a series of crude hovels, two of which had one or two raiders standing or sitting in front of them. Rising over part of the spring was a natural elevation that acted as a ramp to a plateau that looked over the entire cavern. At its zenith, overlooking the entire cavern was a human in dark armor with a dark gray cape. Kai sensed a vague familiarity in the man. Then he saw the telltale cylindrical outline of a light saber hanging off the young man's belt, and shot an urgent look at Din who shared his surprise. In addition to the man's weapon, Kai sensed the dark side everywhere in the cavern and could only assume the human had some rudimentary training in the dark side. He appeared younger than Kai himself and the power he sensed did not entirely worry Kai, so it certainly wouldn't worry Master Din. What did worry Kai, and he secretly hoped his master was far more confident, was the giant albino raider walking up the ramp to stand next to the mysterious Force user. Most likely the man was taller than your average human given the force's predilection to manifest in above average physical forms, but even he rose no higher than the albino raiders chest. This would be a fight, there was no way around that Kai knew. What gave him hope was the fact that the man and all the Raider's seemed to be focused on a tunnel on the other side of the cave. Kai could only guess that would lead to the entrance they had seen earlier. At that moment Din signaled his intention without a word and jumped down from the high cliff face, igniting his saber on the way down. To most Republic commando's Kai had known, the Jedi propensity to act on intuition seemed like reckless abandon, but Kai knew a being's intuition could not begin to explain trusting in the guidance of the Force. Kai landed with a quiet thump a second after Din, with his light blue saber coming up in a brilliant flourish. The nearest three raiders looked up startled, the one closest to Kai dropping the bone of some unlucky animal he had just been devouring, and charged with blade in hand. Kai parried one clumsy overhand strike, before unleashing a horizontal slash that opened the beasts lower back. Before the sad bellow from the Raider had ended, his mate was all over Kai, striking as hard and as furiously as she could. All her rage at seeing her fallen mate couldn't overcome Kai' skill and he did all he could to make her end quick. Kai stole a second to check on Din's progress and saw him engaged with two raiders. Before force jumping into the fray, Kai glanced at the plateau only to see the human and the giant albino were gone. Seconds later Kai put his blade between the shoulder blades of the last standing raider, and extracted it as he joined the other half dozen expired Raiders on the cavern floor. Kai looked to Din to tell warn him of the missing human, but Din met his concern with his own, "this way" he said pointing down a barely visible tunnel, "before they alert the entire clan". Kai hadn't thought of that possibility, which gave him a moment of doubt in his rank, a common strain of thought amongst newly inducted knights. Running through the torch lit cavern corridor Din quickly signaled Kai to follow, as he force jumped five meters on to a parallel path that ran above. Their new path gave them the jump on their quarry as they saw their targets running through the corridor, below and just barely ahead of them now. Not knowing for certain the strength of the force using human, Din signaled Kai to take the flesh raider chieftain, Kai wondered briefly if he was really getting a break with this strategy. Within moments the Jedi had drawn ahead of their targets as they crouched to watch the two bound down the natural warren. At the precise moment, they jumped down in front, effectively sealing off their route of escape. With the knowledge that fighting was their only option the pair slowed to a walk and drew their weapons. As the human approached Kai was hit by a flash of memory. The face approaching was one had not seen in close to ten years…but where from? before he could answer his own question, his old master beat him to it "Deron?" with that Kai could place the face he knew with a name he had forgotten. Deron Sy-Zota was brought to Tython about a year after Kai. They had trained together sparingly, but as Kai progressed to the highest ranks, Deron had trouble, both with his command of the force, and humility before the Masters. When he was about fifteen he was to be sent to the Agricultural Corps temple on Rusaan, but instead he vanished. Not altogether a mystery for the ages, young Jedi have disappeared from the Temple never to be heard from again, and sometimes to be seen again under similar circumstances to Derons'…but it was rare still. Deron interrupted Kai's recollection "Master Din, and Padawan Deo" he said with barely contained contempt "figures you two would be sent to do the Council's bidding, since they themselves have forgotten how to fight".

"Foolish words from a foolish boy" Orgus said drawing his robe back from his waste. Kai didn't bother to correct Deron on his intended slight at his rank in the Order and just said "What happened to you? Come back with us to the Temple". Now he could no longer contain his disgust, "why!?" he snapped "so they can send me to the outer rim where I can learn to grow wheat?" Orgus took over in this impromptu attempt at intervention "we all have our talents Deron, it's how we use them that's more important than the talents themselves" At that Deron gestured to the hulking raider who had been standing behind him with his vibro-axe ready but not sure what was playing out before him. But then ordered him to hold when Orgus continued "you should know that you were to be sent to Rusaan to learn compassion and humility. You always had the talent to be a great Knight." The revelation had its intended effect as the former Padawan stood speechless for a moment. His look of shock hardened as he said "I always knew I had the ability, and now I have a mission worthy of my ability" with that he signaled the Raider again. The giant beast's confusion lifted, wasted no time in charging at Orgus. "It doesn't have to be this way Deron" as Kai said the words he knew they rang hollow and had already drawn his light saber. "Yes it does" the pale dark haired human spat, giving voice to Kai-Kwon's thoughts. "The Jedi have grown weak and will lead us to ruin if we let them. Think about it Kai, you more than any other Padawan knew we were never meant to pursue peace at any cost, all we're doing is appeasing evil in the name of an altered code" Seeing Kai-Kwon's look of contemplation he made his play "join us! You want to reclaim the galaxy from the Sith?" Kai nodded his head only half acting. "To do that we must first reclaim the Jedi Order" Kai-Kwon quickly glanced over towards Orgus who had taken his fight with the Raider chieftain down the cavernous tunnel. Kai didn't really worry for him, confident he could handle the lumbering giant. If anything he wondered if his old master was playing for time so that Kai could extract information. Quickly and conspicuously Kai turned back to Deron, "join who?" he asked with all the interest he could feign while still sounding genuine. Deron gave him a wry grin "You still think I'm the stupid kid you used to beat in training?" with that Kai knew his acting skills had failed him, and there was no other play left except battle. He ignited his blade and with that Deron was rushing towards him, yellow blade raised overhead. Deron's initial attack was aggressive on the border of out of control. He had definitely undergone some training since leaving the Order, but from who Kai wondered. Blocking an over handed attack "you have improved so much in your technique Deron, but you have been missing your mental training" Kai said over the hum of their locked blades. "Don't patronize me Kai-Kwon, I have gotten greater training than you can imagine" he spat

"I see. Training in the Dark side. It flows off you in unnatural waves"

"don't preach at me!" he said spinning off out of the lock "I have grown past your childish view of light and dark. There is only the Force and how we use it to serve the universe".

"Your Sith training seems almost complete".

"I'm no Sith!" Deron yelled as he rushed Kai again. All the training Deron had gone through since leaving the Order hadn't been enough to overcome the inherent natural deficit between the two former comrades. As he rushed this time Kai feigned a straight on block before sidestepping the onrushing black clad figure and completing the 360 turn by bringing his blade around and through the back of Deron's neck. Kai-Kwon deactivated his blade as he glanced down at Deron's expression frozen in time a mix of anger. He knew Deron had been right not only about Kai's advanced skill as younglings, but also about Kai never letting any of the other Padawans forget it. The recollection of his youthful arrogance made him cringe as he stole a glance down the tunnel he could see Orgus already making his way back and he couldn't imagine a lone Raider took him that long to best. Kai used the moment to kneel before Deron's lifeless body to meditate on Deron's journey to the netherworld of the force and his words that had so stung Kai and what the force expected from him going forward. Most everybody believed in the force since they had seen it in action or heard the stories enough times that it became common knowledge. What separated the faithful from the non-faithful was the belief that the Force was simply an evolutionary attribute, or an intelligent creator. Secular citizens of the Republic often mistook what Kai-Kwon was doing for a prayer, but the Force did not work like the personal deity of the Kalikori villagers and the myriad of polytheistic faiths throughout the galaxy that intervened on their behalf for faithful service. The Force was too large and complex to comprehend fully, and all the faithful could hope for was its guidance in in following its will. Kai rose to his feet as Orgus approached "did you learn anything about this plot Kai?" he looked at Orgus regretfully "only that it is a conspiracy against the Order, he saw through my feigned allegiance before revealing any conspirator" Looking down at the scattered being on the ground Orgus said "poor boy, we failed him…may he find the peace in the Force he could not find in this life."

"He made his choice Master" Kai-Kwon answered not fully understanding Orgus' compulsion to shoulder the blame. "That doesn't change the fact that every time we are forced to use our weapons we have failed in some way" he answered Kai looking to see that he understood. Kai didn't but nodded all the same. As he nodded Kai saw the tear in Orgus' pant leg to the side of the teal armored legging and the crimson pattern staining his cream colored trousers. "Master…your injured" Kai said pointing, but Din's attention was not on his wound "yes, that Raider was force sensitive" the revelation had the intended effect on Kai as it caused him to restate the proclamation for himself "force sensitive…how?"

"I'm not sure Kai, but it seems the deeper we dig the more trouble we uncover", craning his neck back to the spring cavern Kai-Kwon filled the unsettling silence

"let's go back to the village, we can learn nothing more this moment and that cut is too deep to close with the force", Orgus nodded his agreement but wavered on his feet, and Kai reached out a hand to steady him "Master?"

"I think that beast's blade may have been poisoned" he said straightening himself "will you make it to the village?" he asked concern showing on his face

"You won't get rid of me that easy" Din said with a smile but Kai could sense his distress as they made their way out of the cavern.

**CH. 4**

The trip back to Kalikori village was made in silence, as Kai-Kwon reflected on what had come to pass in the caves. The fact that no non-sentient being had ever been known to wield the Force was forefront in Kai's thoughts. While Terentateks fed on the force in other living beings, they lacked the ability to manipulate it. Besides there were many on the Order who believed the creatures to be creations of the Sith and not natural creations of the Force. The only explanation is that the Flesh Raiders were a devolving species who used to be sentient beings and suffered some genetic or cultural collapse. Din on the other hand was silent for another reason. It was clear to them now that the Raider chieftain had been fighting with a blade cured with a poison of some sort. Considering Din's increasingly haggard and ashen appearance, it was undoubtedly a deadly poison that would have been fatal to a non-Force user in a matter of minutes. Kai wasn't necessarily worried about Din dropping dead, as he was strong enough in the force to stave off the poison's most lethal effects, but they would need to find him treatment when they got back. The villagers in Kalikori seemed subdued…almost surprised at the Jedi's return. A few nodded as they rode by, a smaller number smiled without showing teeth. Kai, reminded himself he did not need adulation, this was merely noticing its absence. Back at the Matriarch's house, Orgus had quickly worsened to the point of unconsciousness, and for the first time Kai-Kwon felt real fear for his mentor. Ryu and her handmaidens identified the poison as being from the Shurkot root, a deadly but rare plant found only on Tython's highest peaks. She quickly ordered the maidens to prepare a cleansing wrap as she and Kai laid Orgus onto one of the guest beds in the back of the estate. After the medicinal wrap was applied to the wound Kai returned to the room and saw Ryu sitting on the side of Orgus's bed. "Ryu…the comms are out. I can't get a signal anywhere" Kai admitted trying to keep his suspicion from injecting unneeded accusations into his statement. Ryu turned from the pained and pale face of Orgus to face Kai "it's been that way since you left" casting a furtive glance outside the window past Orgus's head she added "storms have a tendency to transport us back to ancestral times here…our technology is not very advanced, I'm sorry" she said with a look of embarrassment, which Kai felt was genuine. "There is nothing to apologize for Ryu, whatever you lack in science your people make up for in spirit and I commend you for it" he said standing over the young woman and placing a hand on her shoulder. Looking back down at Orgus lying beside her "now we must let that set overnight" she said softly, looking back up at Kai, "what will you do?" she asked uncomfortably, Kai-Kwon quickly retracted his hand from her shoulder thinking his proximity and their solitude may be the cause for her unease. "I must take what we've learned to our council…but I hate to leave him" he said backing up. "Your Master Jedi must not move for the night if the Qurba is to do its work properly" she answered for Kai. Kai looked at the clean headed middle aged Jedi and thought his complexion was already starting to darken, the rest would do him good. Turning to Ryu again he said "I will abide your council which means I must go alone to seek council for both us from the Temple", for a brief moment Kai considered confessing his unease with Kalikori's villagers, but looking at the Matriarch's daughter, he placed a hand on Orgus's chest and said "I will go now Master and be back in the morning". Din did not move of course, but Ryu bowed, and with that Kai turned to leave.

Kai-Kwon gunned his speeder bike down the mountain trail as darkness descended over the valley. The temperature seemed to be dropping by the minute, and his mouth looked like an open steam valve as snow flurries whipped by him on all sides. No matter how he rationalized it, Kai could not shake his suspicions at the villager's behavior. A village that seemed more fearful and suspicious of him and Orgus than they did of the Raiders that had been terrorizing them…supposedly. He had been unable to comm ahead so he would have to hope his presence was met with an immediate meeting. Riding across the snow covered trail he could just make out the lights of the Temple starting to shine through the rocks ahead when he felt a familiar presence probing for him through the Force. The last corner of the trail finally opened up onto the snow covered Temple grounds and he quickly glanced up at the large archive windows to see locks of beautiful auburn hair just twist out of view…_so Kira does still worry about me? _Even with everything else going on the thought still managed to send a flood of warmth through his chest. Driving up the slight ramp into the enclosed speeder hangar, Kai-Kwon was greeted with a blast of heated air that made his skin tingle in welcome relief. He was also met by agents Finn and Byrol, technically employed by the Judicial Department, but who volunteered through sheer commitment to bring their families to the sparsely populated Tython to continue to provide security for the Temple. Kai-Kwon, like most Jedi, had made it a point to get on a first name basis with all of these non-Force users who would, and had already, sacrificed their lives for an Order they could never belong to. One very valid criticism of the Order that they tended to focus too much on the big picture at the cost of the little picture of everyday people. This intense focus had been interpreted as aloofness at best and arrogance at worse. It may not have bothered all the Jedi he knew but it bothered him. "Bail, Ilyria" he said as he dismounted his bike. The Chandrilan and Alderranean both answered in greeting before Ilyria asked "cold enough for you out there Kai-Kwon?"

"Getting there" he answered in turn "How are the younglings?"

"growing like weeds and learning more everyday…" he beamed at the chance to brag and Kai-Kwon was happy to listen but Bail noticed the absence before he could, "where is Master Din?" he asked, most security still addressed the Masters as such. "Still in Kalikori. That is why I must speak to the Council. Would you mind telling them I'm on my way up while I go grab my heavier robes?"

"Of course Kai-Kwon" Bail turned to hit the wall comm as Kai strode into the west wing of the Temple's bottom floor. At the landing to the third floor he could see the giant doors already and Jedi Master Ven-Sala Vasherie standing in front of them. "Jedi Deo" the gray haired human male from Anaxes said greeting Kai-Kwon with a curt nod, "the Council awaits your report" Kai returned a bow, rising he said "I look forward to presenting it Master Vasherie, we've encountered questions that need answering".

"We will provide whatever answers we can young Jedi", he said turning to the now slowly opening grand door. Kai knew this was the older Jedi's way of saying 'you may not get your answers'. Kai would have to hope Grand Master Shan saw fit to include him in the mysteries surrounding their ancient birthplace, and new home. The room seemed far more tense than it had yesterday morning, and after the exchange of greetings and formalities Kai replayed the last twenty-four hours fully. When he had finished, Grand Master Shan stood up and began walking a pensive circle around the seating area. Finally she turned to Kai and said "Jedi Deo there is knowledge you have not yet been made aware of" Kai nodded his acknowledgement of that obvious fact as she continued "the beings you know as Flesh Raiders were first brought to Tython by the Rakata" Kai cocked his head wondering if that's a name he should have heard but Master Shan alleviated any worry on that front "that's not a name you would know Jedi Deo" gesturing to the masters seated around and behind her "our forebears made the decision to wipe their history from the general archives". Kai unaccustomed to hearing about such subterfuge from the council asked the obvious question before he could think better of it, "can I ask why Master Shan?" Master Shan stared vibroblades at him and Kai made a subtle gesture of apology. Master Shan continued "I had no intention of leaving it at that Kai-Kwon if you would let me finish" she said with a soft smile that let Kai know he was not in trouble for his interruption. "The Rakata were our first real enemy. Long before the Sith, we were a much smaller order based here on Tython with only the two nearest systems making up what you know today as the Republic" she retook her seat but continued "the Rakata and their Infinite Empire spanned millions of systems across this galaxy. They were a brutal race of force using carnivores that conquered, subjugated, and eventually…fed on many of their defeated subjects…the ones they did not enslave that is." Kai felt his stomach revolt a bit at this revelation. Master Shan showed no effect however, "In many ways they were the first Sith. They never developed their own philosophy in connection with their force use, but in the end the force was merely an evolutionary advantage to them. A means to an end as it were, the end being power" Kai nodded at the connection. While there were many subtle differences between the Jedi and Sith philosophies, maybe the largest gulf between them was the idea that the Jedi existed to serve the force, while the Sith believed the force existed to serve them. It was also this distinction which gave him confidence that he would never fall to the Sith since he could never imagine the level of arrogance that idea demanded. "The story is long but suffice to say the Rakata were losing their connection to the force, and had begun seeking out force users in the belief that their consumption would re-strengthen their connection. In the end we were successful. The Flesh Raiders were no more than cannon fodder for the Rakatan force. Bred for size and aggression most were abandoned by their masters on Tython while the remaining Rakata fled to parts unknown never to be

heard from again…now before you ask" the Grand Master said smiling again "the founders of the Republic decided to keep the Rakata secret since their existence could cause the population to fear the Force before they had a chance to understand it. It may have been right and it may have been wrong but it was a decision that was made millennia ago and doesn't need to be re-examined here" Kai uttered an agreement "the Raiders that were left on Tython fled for the mountains and apparently continued to evolve over the millennia. If they are being awakened to the latent Force connection in their DNA by these dark Jedi or Sith, it must cease." She stood once again and walked up the two wide steps to where Kai stood at the top landing and put a reassuring hand on his bicep "I am tasking you and Master Kwa, and of course Master Din if he is able, with finding Deron Sy-Zota's master, and where he has set up his" she made a gesture with her hand signifying her search for the correct term "..lair. If you can bring him to justice, do. If not, report back here so we can send proper help in completing this mission. Now you have a few hours before sunrise, I suggest you get some rest."

"Yes Master. What about the force capable Flesh Raiders?" Kai said the new information radically altering his childhood perceptions as he said it now.

"That will necessitate further study and meditation. Do not engage if you can help it since there is a chance they may be turned to the light" Master Shan held up a palm forestalling any interruption "-as unlikely as that may sound given their…nature, it is our duty as Jedi to try". With that Kai was dismissed and began his walk downstairs to his quarters. He was uneasy about Jedi Flesh Raiders but in the end he could only agree with the Master's logic as giving a being every chance for redemption was like second nature to a Jedi's upbringing. Reaching his quarters he looked down the hall and saw Kira Carson walking contemplatively down the hall outside her quarters. He thought of asking her what she was doing but their relationship had become too complicated and he didn't need any other reasons for restlessness…who was he kidding, a complicated relationship was predicated on having a relationship at all, and he and Kira hadn't even said hello in over a year. _Then why was she waiting for his return? _Walking into his darkened room he knew all hope for a restful night's sleep went out the window with that thought.

**Ch. 5**

Two days had passed by in agonizingly slow fashion since Azi's ship had been stolen. The Mantellian Loyalist Council in concert with Republic Command had decided to wait on launching the reclamation mission of Drelliad Island. Intelligence indicated that the island had been swarming with separatists the day after their victory in seizing it. The brass believed giving them two days to settle into a rhythm, and allowing them to send the third battalion back to the front. So Azi had spent the first anxious day roaming the small fort town, which she completed in just thirty minutes. It was yesterday morning that she heard commotion coming from the refugee area outside the fort's side entrance. Upon arriving she found the assembled refugees of the various races that lived on Ord Mantell working together to build an outer barricade and a makeshift roof over their small tent town. Among them lifting bags and barking instructions was Corso Riggs…a shirtless Corso Riggs at that. The previous night in the cantina she had asked around about Corso and was pleased to find he was exactly who her first impression had told her he was; A brave and honest man who cared deeply for this planet and its people…and who apparently had great genes she thought watching his tanned muscles ripple under the weight of another sandbag. A moment later Azi had taken off her jacket and joined the spontaneous construction project, as it seemed to be the only option to kill time that didn't involve sitting in the cantina before lunch. They had worked until sundown. She had laughed, talked and worked up a good sweat with Corso and many other refugees who just seemed happy to have something to take their mind off the war and the homes and loved ones they had lost. At the end of the day Azi was filled with that unmistakable pride that came from a job well done, and she and Corso along with three refugees who didn't have small children to care for, had retired to the cantina, where they drank and danced until the early closing hour. Azi had gotten a semi-drunken night's sleep but was up before the sunrise and donning the skin suit and armor she had received from Vidu's requisition man Arrol. She knew Corso was still in with the brass going over final mission objectives. She was left out of the planning but knew the objective was to bring down the surface to air batteries so she could get out of here and find that nerfherder who had her ship. Clasping the chest piece to her right shoulder, she looked at the leg armor but thought better of it. Azi was not a warrior and she knew it. She was a great shot and crafty in a fight but if the plasma was flying heavy she would run to fight another day, and she needed her unencumbered speed to do that. She reached down to the bench and picked up her tan pair of slacks which she pulled on over the skin suit. Her brown leather jacket fit pretty snug with the armor on. She strapped on her double holster and checked her jacket pocket for spare power packs. Just as she thought, she had left them on the ship and checking her blasters confirmed each was at no more than half power. Possibly reading her mind Corso walked in with two packs held out in his palm. "Here ya go Captain, In case you need one" he said with a smile that Azi couldn't help but admit was making him more handsome by the day. Accepting it she said "thanks Corso, I feel naked without some backups on my hips" she said, toying with him a bit. Corso's grin turned sheepish as he glanced at his boots "what happened to the leggings?". Seeing his spontaneous shyness she asked "too cumbersome, Corso, how old are you?"

"Twenty...why?"

"Just curious, you look a bit older than that".

"How bout you?…I mean if it's ok…to ask I mean".

"Twenty eight by Galactic Standard Cycle, twenty-two by Hutt time" she said chuckling to herself at the power of suggestive words like naked and hips over the mind of a young man of any humanoid species, probably non-humanoids too.

Command had seen fit to loan the infiltrators Captain Adavan and his Mantellian squad from the Krillo road battle, and Azi was happy to have them by her side again. Once the air defense batteries were out of commission the Council would call in the cavalry. Riding out of Ft. Garnik the team had to walk through the refugee camp they had helped to build on either side of the side road leading out of the Fort. Riding through the misery of new arrivals; crying mothers and children sleeping in the dirt, made Azi realize her complaints about the mission had been nothing more than a façade to keep her independent smuggler reputation. She had grown up in the lawless regions of the galaxy, and had seen at a young age how the Republic was spoken about in hush whispers, a force to be feared…by the criminals and slavers. In short, the object of her captors and owner's fear became the object of her affection, and she would do what she could, when she could, to see that it continued to be the scourge of evil and chaos. Punctuating her thoughts, a Cathar women named Shaldira she had met yesterday approached Azi's bike with a child in her arms. The woman's cat like eyes were awash in fear and urgency as she carried an emaciated and sickly looking young female on her chest. "Miss Azi? Please miss?" the refugee called out in the elongated accent natural to her species. Azi slowed and turned her bike towards the middle of the tent encampment and the distressed couple, "yes? What's wrong?" Azi said in her normal voice and the woman gestured for her to lower it.

"Please...I can bring no attention from the militia but I need your help". Azi looked over her shoulder briefly before looking back and nodding for the woman to continue. "This is my daughter Ruliya" she said with a forced smile. Azi introduced herself and went to touch the back of Ruliya when Shaldira stopped her "you mustn't miss, she is sick with Vrillex, it's why I sought you out". Azi withdrew her hand too fast and she immediately regretted the implied revulsion. "Last night a convoy… a medical convoy was ambushed by separatists and all the bacta and anti-toxin on its way here was stolen, what's left is prioritized for the soldiers…or so we're told anyway".

"Yes I heard…the Militia Captain Geret told us an hour ago to be on the lookout when we got to Drelliad" Azi confirmed. "I figured as much, but you have to know that if you give the medicine to the Captain…we" she took her right hand from Ruliya's bottom and patted her back "-will never see any of that medicine in time".

"They're not allocating any medicine for the refugees? Why take you in at all then?" Azi asked incredulous. "Well yes, but we come last…you have to understand" she said nervously looking left and right "Ord Mantell is a human world, with a mostly human militia…and" she let the implication hang. "I promise Shaldira, I'll do what I can" Azi said placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Just then Ruliya let out a rib rattling cough, and Azi squeezed Shaldira's shoulder as she turned to leave. Azi turned her bike back to the main road to catch the squad, thinking of a story to give if they inquired about her disappearance "Captain", Azi's hands immediately fell to her hips before turning to see Corso Riggs straddling his speeder behind a large red boulder "Corso!" she cried out but relieved it was him and not Adavan or another militiamen "Were you watching me?" she said still a little angry. "I was" he said flashing his boyish smile "and I like what I saw" he said riding by her and back on the road. Anger gave way to a flutter in her stomach and in spite of herself she smiled as Corso rode ahead.

Ord Mantell was a beautiful planet, or at least the northern archipelagos of Avulla were. In the three hours since leaving Ft. Garnik they had passed rolling plains and verdant forests interspersed with giant rock formations that hung over aqua blue coves that finally gave way to white sand beaches. Unfortunately this natural beauty had been marred by the ugly stain of a perpetual war. On three separate occasions they had passed through ghost towns devoid of any population, buildings charred like tinder for a planetary bonfire. On the passing horizon Azi could see raging battles, the red and blue discharge of blasters made the countryside look as though it had been decorated for Unity Day in the core. She looked ahead at Corso riding just ahead to her right. He never even seemed to glance over at the raging battles, and in that moment she felt a deep sympathy for him. For he had never known peace and quiet, his short life had been dominated by violence. Shortly after the Treaty of Coruscant, Ord Mantell's neutrality was pretty much despised by all. The planet was soon divided between those wanting to stay in the Republic, and those who wanted to pledge their allegiance to the Empire, and a much smaller idealist faction who wanted to proclaim independence from both. It wasn't long before the somewhat civilized arena of politics wasn't big enough for the three factions. And now, a decade or more later there was still no resolution. The sympathy she felt towards Corso also gave her a sense of camaraderie with him. Where he had never known anything but war, she had never known anything but oppression. The memories sent a shudder down her spine. Not just for herself but for all the other girls she had lived with…and the guilt she would always bear for leaving them. Varu had made her a cleaning girl until she hit puberty, but soon after she had caught his eye personally. And Zil Varu, being made of avarice and greed didn't much care to share his toys, so Azi got out of the more degrading acts with complete strangers. Watching the other girls being forced into the most unspeakable acts she had praised her good fortune at being the master's favorite, and no matter how she rationalized it, or made excuses for it, she could never fully erase the stain of complicity she felt in the treatment of those deemed beneath her. Not that being forced to please Varu didn't leave deep emotional scars that she had to deal with as well, but compared to some of the girls she lived and worked with, it could've been much worse for her. Since escaping, she had been driven by a need to atone for her sins. Whether anyone would agree they were hers to atone for or not didn't matter. She had been both cursed and blessed by the randomness of the universe, and she couldn't stop thinking about those that were only ever cursed. Up ahead, she could just make out Corso's signal in the morning light. A moment later he turned off the main road while Adavan's militia continued on ahead. Azi slowed to make the sharp turn onto a winding dusty trail that couldn't have been a marked road. The trail ran down, finally winding its way directly under one of Drelliad Bridge's massive abutments, and opening up into a secluded beach. The bridge that crossed over their heads and blocked out the sunlight, ran from the mainland across the channel to Drelliad Island. Captain Adavan had made a comment back at Garnik about liking simple plans since they gave broad discretion to improvisation, and she thought they had formulated a fairly simple one. Adavan and the Mantellian squad would keep on the main road, only debarking right before the bridge entrance. From the mainland cliffs they would ostensibly act as an advance recon team scouting possible weaknesses in the separatist defense. However, one of the young Mantellians would make an intentional mistake of holding his micro-noculars in the path of Ord Mantell's rising sun. Once their mirror sentries took notice of the glare and spotted the team they would call their superior who would authorize a chase, giving Azi and Corso a small window to slip into the island base unnoticed. Azi was unsure about the plan as it seemed to hinge on the competence of the separatists more than them, and she must not have hidden her apprehension very well. Waiting in the ankle deep water with regulator in her hand and goggles on her forehead Corso unpacked the underwater hand motors that would scoot them across the channel at high speed, and placed them on the beach. Walking back to the gentle surf he glanced at Azi before quickly looking again, "Captain?" he gave her a moment to make eye contact with him, before nodding at her hands "you're gonna rub that pretty skin right off". Unsure whether to smile at the flattery or frown at the fact her nervousness was being discussed decided on the latter, "I'm fine" she said with more bite than she meant, "it's just…it doesn't seem like they're giving us much of a distraction" she said jerking her chin up to the high ridge behind them. Corso started shaking his head before she finished "nah…small is good when it comes to distractions. You forget we've been fighting a long time, and a smart commander would see something noisy and flashy for the decoy that it was". She had to admit that Corso's explanation made sense, and his confidence in the plan made her feel better. Minutes later, and just as she started to feel like the Coruscant Circus wasn't performing its latest act in her stomach, Corso's comm unit crackled to life with a short burst of static, followed by "they've spotted us! Fall back to the bikes!" Since comms this close would undoubtedly be monitored, the actual retreat transmission was the infiltrators queue to go. Azi fitted the small transparisteel regulator to her mouth and grabbed the small lightweight motor by the handle. The regulator was curved to fit the slope of her cheeks and would take her expended carbon dioxide and re-filter it back to the oxygen she needed. Making sure her goggles were suction sealed to her face, she followed Corso into the water. She had been briefed back at Garnik on the one indigenous aquatic species they had to worry about this close to the shore, the firaxen, a dangerous predator two to four meters long with a jaw full of razor sharp teeth and a long tail that could cut a being like herself in half with a clean swipe. Having briefly looked at the data pad info on the firaxen Azi was nervous but knew attacks were pretty rare, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if that wasn't because there hadn't been many recreational swimmers over the past couple decade. Corso had also told her the dive motor gave off an electronic signal that drove the Firaxens crazy. The swim to Drelliad was about two kilometers and by the time they trudged out of the water up to the island's rocky shore Azi's could hear the sound of armored vehicles moving across the bridge overhead. The swim had been uneventful thankfully, even pleasant Azi thought. The beauty of the sea coral and multi-colored fish was almost enough to make Azi forget she was about to risk her life…almost, but not quite. As the pair climbed up the sharp jagged cliff face using the disposable grappling guns they had been given, Azi risked a look back across the bay. She could now see the separatist soldiers in their trademark brown and red tunics, still heading across the bridge on speeder bikes and armored carriers. She hoped the team got a good jump on their planned escape route through the Kahari forest, and that the search stayed confined to the ground. The whine of repulsorlift engines nixed that hope as Azi and Corso both glanced up to see two Sep fighters rising out of the central hangar, before screaming overhead at sub-sonic speeds. Corso turned back to her with a look that said there was nothing they could do about it, and they continued their climb. Ten minutes later they were making their way over the cliff face and looking at the back of one of the outer most buildings. As she unhooked the synthrope from her belt and reeled into the grappling gun she could feel the lactic acid starting to turn her legs into jelly. She couldn't tell if it was from the climb or her nerves, but either way this wasn't the time. The base itself was of a standard design; long rectangular buildings positioned to form a square around the central hub. The buildings were the same pre-fab slope-roofed design that was common on nearly every world settled and designed by Coruscant and her architects over the last twenty thousand years. Their destination was the base's central mainframe, which controlled all the automated surface to air defenses on Ord Mantell, including the planet's massive ion cannon, which was capable of rendering a dreadnaught inoperable. Azi stayed right on Corso's heel as they darted to the first barracks building that formed a quarter of the base's perimeter. With their backs to the durasteel, they crept to the corner of the building where according to the design prints they should get their first look at the central hub. Corso peered around the side before quickly retracting his head, "two guards" he whispered and sucked into the wall to allow Azi by him to take a look. She could feel his warm breath on her neck as she moved into position, and the sensation sent a tingle down her back. She mentally shrugged off the distraction and cautiously peered around the corner to see the two guards were sharing what looked to be a spice stick, lax but not uncommon for militia and rebel armies. "What do you think?" the bigger of the two humans was saying as he took a protracted pull from the sweet smelling herb. "The flyboys will get 'em…I just hope it doesn't ruin their invasion plans" the small guard said as he accepted the proffered stick. Seeing the look of confusion on his friends face he smiled "what?…I'm bored" he said before taking a pull himself. Azi turned back to Corso and said "it looks pretty clear past the two party animals, but I don't think that's the mainframe in the courtyard behind them". "Well only one way to find out" Corso said as Azi retracted herself from across him as he retook the point position, but this time with his blaster, whom he had disturbingly named Torchy, drawn. Azi carried two smaller blasters of the DL-6 variety, and she started to draw them herself before stopping "any chance we can just stun these two?" Corso looked back and flashed a sympathetic look "no guarantee they'll stay out till we're done" understanding her moral dilemma he said "trust me Captain, they're not innocent. If you want when we get back I can show you the holo's of sep massacres just in the last year" Azi still had not looked up when Corso said "..Ok?…Captain?" drawn back to the moment she looked at him and nodded, then finished drawing her blasters out of their holsters. Unlike the holo's there were no announcements or witty retorts, Corso and Azi simply rolled out from their cover firing bolts of superheated plasma. Corso's blast had taken the smaller guard between the eyes, leaving a smoking crater in the soldier's forehead. Azi's aim had not been quite as sharp. As they approached the big man was writhing in agony from a shot that had devastated, then cauterized his trachea. Corso didn't give Azi time for indecision as he quickly ended the man's suffering with a blast to the same spot between the eyes. Azi knew this would haunt her sleep tonight, but she also knew that would only happen if she made it home. To do that she had to get with it and follow as Corso began running in a low crouch across the courtyard. Reaching the back of the U-shaped building Azi had spied from their corner cover, they quickly realized it was not the control hub they needed to get to. The building seemed far less weathered than the barracks they had come from, not bearing the telltale scorches of blaster fire that marked the other buildings she had seen pretty much all over Ord Mantell. They quickly deduced it was a recent addition, which meant the mainframe would be directly behind. As they made their way to the side of the building they heard a door slide open, and suddenly a being materialized from the back wall. Corso and Azi instinctively brought their blasters to bear when the being turned. It, or rather she was a young human female who couldn't have been more than sixteen standard years. Although the best slicers in the galaxy seemed to get younger every year, this girl was wearing a leather top that just covered her breasts, metal bracers on her wrists and decorative clasps on her upper arms. Her see-through dress and knee high boots made her "private" dancer outfit complete. What made the wave of painful memories worse for Azi was the deep cut on her upper lip that was obviously healing without the benefit of any medicinal cream. Before Azi could speak Corso beat her to it, but his tone told Azi that he inferred everything she had from the young woman's appearance as he lowered his blaster to his side "what are you doing out here miss?" the sight of two armored and well-armed beings registered with the girl and she immediately dropped into a position of complete submission, crouching with her head almost between her knees and her arms outstretched over here head "I'm sorry sir! I just come out here for air, I swear I wasn't going anywhere, I swear" she continued to plead but Corso dropped down to her level, wrapping an arm around her back "no, no shhh, we're not with the separatists" she looked up with hopeful eyes "what's your name?" he asked, still unsure of this situation she stammered "S-Syandra"

"I'm Corso and this is Azi" he said beckoning Azi to come forward, which she did after choking back bitter memories, as Corso looked back to the shaken girl "where are you from Syandra?"

"Olos"

Corso flashed Azi a look of anger that said I'll tell you later and I told you so all at once. Syandra went on "most of the girls here are, the rest were captured earlier from Dyessa" lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper "are you the ones the soldiers are buzzing about?" Corso looked at her with a slight smile and said "I certainly hope not, that would put a big kink in our plan". Torn but knowing they had to keep moving Azi said "we have to go, but we promise to do what we can for all of you". Syandra nodded her understanding and stood up with Corso, turning to go inside she stopped and turned back to them. Something like defiance seemed to dawn on her as she did "where are you trying to get to?"

"The central comm hub on the other side of this…place" jerking a thumb towards the door Corso said the last word as if he spat it. "It's the Officer's Club" Syandra answered the implied question. Quickly looking behind her she waved her hand over the wall panel and the door opened, looking back she beckoned her two potential rescuers to follow her. Seeing the apprehensive expressions on the pair she said "the base is on alert, nobody's here" as she disappeared into the portal Corso and Azi followed, if only to get out of the rising sunlight for a moment. The hallway they entered was dark and looked to Azi to be unfinished. Her feet fell on hard duracrete instead of the plush carpeting she imagined would be inside the Officer's club. In the middle of the hallway on the left wall was an opening with a curtain covering, just across from the curtain on the opposite wall was a doorway, which is where they stopped. Azi could see the hallway ended a few meters further with another curtained portal. Syandra waved her hand and opened the door, and needlessly instructed them to follow once more. Azi walked through the doorway and deeper into her own past; thin mattresses were littered around the room, each with its own ankle manacles to keep the girls from trying any midnight escapes. On the back wall there was a large walk in bathroom with a row of toilets and shower stalls without basic privacy barriers. The girls huddled together in a shared defense against whatever new terror these newcomers would bring to them. Syandra who just a minute ago had shared this fear held her arms in front of her asking for their patience; "they're with the Republic", the pronouncement elicited a range of hopeful glances that hurt Azi's heart. One human girl who looked to be a little older than most of the others immediately stood, sitting behind where she had been was the one lone alien, a young green-skinned Ketia Twi'lek like Azi, who had obviously been used as a target for the speciest rage common among the Imperials and their allies. Her little body was covered in deep purple bruises and Azi could feel pain and fury rising in her throat that made it hard to breathe. The angry human who had stood at Syandra's admission snapped "and you think they're here for us Syandra!? They might as well be Colonel Firch and Teano because they will certainly bring us our deaths if they're caught here". Syandra looked briefly at Azi and Corso and it was clear this girl was their de-facto leader and it was not her place to challenge her authority…but she did anyway "they are only going to wait in the closet for a moment while I grab them jackets and caps, and once they bring down the island's defenses the Republic and militia will move in and we'll be saved" Azi still had not heard the entire plan and the last thing she wanted to do was to provide false hope to these girls, she knew their exfil plan involved the same cliffs they had used to infiltrate. Doing her best to push the lump in her throat down she started to reassure them that the Militia would not leave them here, but Corso spoke first "that's actually not the plan". Syandra looked at him like she had been punched in the stomach "but-" the leader cut in "you see? They're not here for us". Azi also looked at Corso with a hint of betrayal, but she and the others allowed him to elaborate. "The Militia has most of its ground forces tied up in the battle for Dyessa, and command has deemed Drelliad too costly to hold…without these batteries we'll have air superiority… once we knock out the air defense command hub they will commence a day long bombing campaign of the island". Azi could only shake her head "burn down your own house to kill the mynocks in the attic", but the fiery red-headed leader of the girls just snorted a derisive laugh that told the girls what she thought of their foolish idealism. Corso looked to Azi in agreement "Once Drelliad is out of commission they'll move their headquarters to Garnik and eventually Dyessa" then looking at the slave leader he continued, "Our intelligence said that the Separatists would not have moved in non-combatant personnel so soon after taking the island… ground forces won't arrive until tomorrow morning and by then…. I'm sorry." he said with a look of defeat. A dark-skinned human with her arms around her knees looked up from the ground "your intelligence didn't know you soldiers never go anywhere without your toys?" she said her voice dripping with accusation. Corso, a bit stung, let Azi step up in front of him "We can still do something. I'm not sure what yet, but I know we won't just leave you here. First we have to take out their air defenses." Suddenly "little Azi" shot up from her cross legged perch on the mattress and said "what do we have to lose Keena? Is your life here so precious that your unwilling to take a chance?" that's when Azi saw Keena was a real leader and not just some bully as she embraced the young Twi'lek whispering "no" breaking the hug but keeping her hands on her bruised cheeks, "but your is…to me. We'll get out of this Leyani I promise you but it can't be on something so… half-cocked" embracing her again she kept her eyes on the two outsiders and said "I wish you all the luck with your mission…but I can't let these girls risk their lives on this. If you're successful then we'll ride out the battle and see what happens". Azi wanted to say something to change this but Corso was already pulling her to the door. Passing a shaken Syandra she put her hand to her cheek and said "thank you for your trust, I promise we will not forget about you". Syandra, too heartbroken to meet Azi's eyes kept her chin on her chest as Azi and Corso made for the door "what about the shuttles?" she announced louder than she meant. Azi and Corso turned in the doorway as Syandra went on more hopeful now "there are two shuttles in the back on the tall landing pad" Azi looked to Keena and saw she was willing to hear this out. "Unfortunately we only have one pilot…we couldn't take more than four" that was when Keena stepped forward "if you can get a shuttle you will be taking Syandra, Leyani, Leia, and Cara." she held out both hands to preempt any arguments from the names she didn't call "the youngest go. The rest of us will have to wait. End of story." And it was.

Peeking back out into the now bright morning Azi saw the front of the club was nearly vacant except for a squad of soldiers jogging towards the bridge. The jackets and hats they had been given would only pass a distant cursory inspection. Knowing that they followed the soldiers lead and jogged, breaking off to the right behind the mess hall. Making their way to the corner of the large building they stopped suddenly when the back door staff entrance opened. This time however, it was no captive dancer but rather a separatist cook with a pot of last night's dinner to dump in the grease pit. "What are you two doing back here? Shouldn't you be on alert?" the Shistavanen grumbled. Azi started for her blaster "Are you questioning me cook?!" Corso snapped "…no…it's j-"

"well then get back inside and let us prepare for this imminent attack, feeble though it will undoubtedly be". The pretentious air must have worked as the furry alien scratched his head and carried his empty pot back inside. "You think he'll say anything?" she asked once they were alone again "nah he's no believer, just a guy with a job."

"Well it was pretty smooth Corso Riggs". Taking a few more steps towards the corner of the mess hall Azi stopped and turned back to Corso "I'm not leaving those girls there Corso, I want you to know that" bracing herself for the argument she suspected was coming about duty, orders, and the greater good she was relieved to hear Corso answer "according to the Des-prints the shuttle pad she mentioned is behind the armory". Azi could only flash a smile in return but she felt like kissing him as they rounded the cafeteria into the now bright morning light shining through the cloudless sky unimpeded. They immediately had to duck down behind a sanitation bin as Azi spied two heavily armed guards standing at the bottom of the walk ramp that led to the central control hub. Unlike the previous two, these guards were on full alert even though the earlier alarm klaxon had stopped. They both discarded their disguises knowing they had run their course. Corso looked at Azi and whispered "want to try and stun these two?"

"Not a chance" Azi said without looking away from the guards.

"Yeah, didn't think so". Without thinking too much Azi sprung out from behind the bin into the middle of the walkway activating her defense screen as she came up on one knee. The screen would stop about five bolts before it collapsed and she had to find new cover while its power recharged. Both guards immediately locked on to her and began firing while Corso came up directly behind the bin in their blind spot and took the first guard with a well-placed bolt to his right temple just under the rim of his helmet. Azi quickly threw a flash grenade at the last guard just as her screen began to sputter and blink out. Walking quickly towards the stunned guard who was now holding his hand out in front of him and blinking rapidly, Azi pumped two bolts from each blaster into the torso of the temporarily blinded man. He went down with an abbreviated yelp and a dull thud, as Azi purposefully strode over his lifeless body, this time without pity…she had seen the true face of these beings and she was no longer conflicted. Corso moved ahead of her up the ramp sweeping his blaster left to right as he did. Coming to the door Azi quickly inserted her slicer card and began working on the doors. She was just an average slicer, but the program she had been given by the Republic techies at Garnik made it easy enough. Just moments later Azi got confirmation of the programs worth as the door opened with a rush of artificially cool air. They moved into a room full of separatist techs, already starting to raise their hands at the first sign of a hostile blaster. They had allotted themselves ten minutes to bring down the automated turbo lasers but with the help of an all too willing Lieutenant they had opened up Mantellian skies and restrained all Sep personnel in under five. Before leaving out the back Azi grabbed Corso by the arm "can we send a message from here?"

"Yeah…but I'm not sure we should…for the mission's sake I mean".

"What's it matter now? They already know something's coming. We'll make it short, something like U-building friendly" Seeing Corso waver she pressed "we have to try". His heart won out over his brain and he moved quickly to the comm system. Leaving the techs bound and gagged, they left through the back using a weld tool on both entrances, and came out onto a deserted pedway. Looking around the mostly deserted base Azi couldn't believe how well the diversion worked. Half the base must have been searching the forest and the other half guarding the bridge. Passing the western barracks followed by the med center Azi remembered little Ruliya before she remembered the Mantellian Commander's order to keep a look out for the hijacked medicine. Stopping cold, Corso turned "Captain? What is it, we need to keep moving?" knowing the girls would alter their plans, they needed to multitask. "I need to get the anti-virals stolen from the convoy, they should be in here". Corso thought for a second "I need you to fly the shuttle", after a moment of silence his eyes widened "I'll get the meds and then burn it back to the club to get the girls outside." Azi nodded and then put her hand on Corso's chest piece as he moved by her "Corso, you're gonna have to bring the girls out the front because I won't have room to land in the back". Seeing the worry in her eyes he gently clasped her shoulder "relax Captain, we'll have a drink to the girls and little Ruliya tonight back at the Dawnstar" with that he turned and sprinted back into the med center. Moments later, moving towards the shuttle pad, Azi heard an engine fire up. In between two larger than average buildings she dove behind a low retainer wall in front of the motor pool. Seconds later she cursed her stupidity as she saw the front of an Arrow-23 armored speeder pulling out of the building she had picked for cover. She had no other options but remaining still and hoping the passenger or gunner didn't look to their left in the second it would take for them to get on the opposite side of the low wall she was lying behind. After a few moments without feeling the searing heat of a cannon blast, she heard the assault craft passing by on the other side of the wall close enough to hear the back gunner cursing epithets at the loyalist akks he hoped to soon face. Azi rose after she could no longer hear the whine of anti-gravity and continued on to the shuttle pad she could see rising up from behind the officer's quarters. At the foot of the durasteel ramp leading to the shuttle pad were two more serious looking guards standing behind a mounted E-Web repeater. Azi activated her holo-drone and programmed it to fly by the back of the officer's quarters. She knew the guards might not give it any serious thought but she only needed a few seconds of distraction. As the drone ran its set course over the back slope of the roof both guards' heads cocked up and followed the drone's flight to the north until it vanished behind the northern barracks. Now from behind the shuttle pad, she could see them return their focus to the buildings and courtyard in front of them. This is where her limber abilities as a dancer carried over to her new life as a free ship captain, as she began scaling the ten meter high back framework of the shuttle pad. After a fairly easy climb she was looking at the lone guard standing between the two Rendaran shuttles, a Czerka TX-4 sentry droid. A model about ten years past its prime but still far too advanced for Azi to take down alone…in a fair fight that is. Hooking both arms over the last railing she pulled up her left jacket sleeve revealing the same wrist mounted Allaco slice wear that activated her defense screens and decoy drone. Well she had one more trick up this sleeve and it was maybe the most useful. With an activated pulse she could fry any targeted droids CPU for up to two minutes, which would be more than enough for what she had to do. The activated pulse hit the droid without a sound, but suddenly the mechanical commando dropped his blaster rifle, jerking and stiffening into an awkward position as electricity from his overloaded CPU coursed over his exterior plating. Wasting no time Azi ran to the shuttle to her right and blasted the area where the circuit board controlling the anti-grav lift should be and ran around to the back of the other shuttle and began slicing into the outer hatch. The guards had better hearing than she had hoped as the rhythmic clanging of footfalls on the durasteel ramp began in earnest. Just then the back of the shuttle disappeared up into the roof and a ramp extended straight out and down. Azi wasted no time with the ramp and just climbed in the back of the shuttle and made her way to the pilot's seat. Starting the shuttle was the easy part since it called for no identification, trusting if you had authority to enter, than you had the authority to fly her, and the old gully jumper came to life in her hands. Just as she was flipping the necessary switches to get airborne, the bobbing heads of both guards crested over the safety railing as they turned onto the pad and saw the droid frozen in its unnatural position and the shuttle rising into the air and withdrawing its landing gear. Realization dawned as they began to draw their side blasters, but before they could even get their holsters unlatched, two super-heated particle beams erupted from under the shuttle view screen and turned them to dust. Azi cringed as she released the trigger and grabbed the control yoke. Flying off the pad and over the spot where the two guards had just been, the boots of the nearest one were the only sign they had ever existed. Rising further now into the air she could get a clear view of the base for the first time, and saw that while mostly empty she could still see the armored land speed she had deftly avoided minutes earlier returning with six soldiers running on either side. The guards had must of commed to the front while they were running up the walkway…so they had a few professionals Azi thought as she climbed over the Officer's quarters. Over the central courtyard she could see the mainframe on the right and the officer's club on her left. As she began her descent she could also see the land speeder and soldiers just a half a kilometer behind the building she was now landing in front of. As she descended she could see Corso and the four soon to be former captives in the front doorway's alcove. Acting on fear and adrenaline she was moving down the ramp as it descended "are they ready to go?" she yelled over the shuttle's engines. The girls all moved out into the light with Corso behind them. All were clasping their hair or ears trying to fend off the noise and energy of the idling shuttle engine. Azi touched each one on the back as they moved up the ramp and by her, almost as if she wanted to make sure they were really there. As Corso moved by her at a trot she looked once more to the doorway of the officer's club to see Keena and a few of the other girls crowding into the alcove to see their little sisters off. "Wave goodbye" she said and the girls looked out the rear hatch to wave and blow kisses to their protector. Finally hit the hatch and looked to Corso, "well that's all we can do...let's go". Corso moved up and took the co-pilots seat as the girls plopped down on the back benches that lined either side of the shuttle. "No" was all she could say.

"No what?" Corso asked turning in his seat. "Look at all this room?!" she said waving her hands at the floor between the side benches "We can take more". "Captain" Corso said looking out the view port "alright do it. We're running out of time though". Azi hit the hatch again as the girls shifted excitedly in their seats. Azi walked midway down the ramp and yelled "four more!" but Keena could only shrug. So she signed her instructions and this time Keena immediately starting grabbing girls by their shoulders, and seconds later four young girls were running for Azi... Through it all she was so taken by Keena's natural leadership and the depth of her feelings for the younger girls stuck with her in this deplorable situation. She waved to her as the first three girls moved past her and joined their friends sitting at their feet. Watching the last girl run to her, she looked past to Keena gathering the last six women to move back inside. Azi threw her hand up in a futile gesture of goodbye and apology to which Keena just mouthed the words "thank you" before turning and disappearing into the darkness of the club. As the last young girl of about fifteen started to move up the ramp she heard Corso yell get down just an instant before the shuttle was rocked by a concussive blast. Azi stumbled but was able to keep her balance enough to reach out and catch the young dark haired girl as her foot slipped off the side of the ramp. The two fell backwards into the cabin at Syandra's feet, as the girls huddled together in panic. Azi reached up with her foot to close the hatch and heard "are we caught?" from one of the girls. She didn't have time to allay their fears as she turned to check the new addition lying next to her. "Are we good?" Corso yelled.

"Good" Azi yelled from her back "Corso divert the shields to the front, 100%!"

"Ok…how?!"

"Silver panel up top, bring the left lever to the middle, and the right all the way front".

"Got it!" Azi turned to look at the young girl in the crook of her arm, her pale skin flushed red from fear and exertion, "what's your name sweetie?" Azi asked

"Tiana" the young girl said.

"Ok Tiana" she said standing up with her "take a seat next to Syandra and strap in". She did as she was told and Syandra leaned over to help her strap in as another blast rocked the shuttle, forcing Azi to grasp the overhead storage bin to keep from falling over. Retaking her seat she scanned the instruments Corso moved back to his "Shields are about gone Captain! I'm not sure we can take another hit" he yelled, she could see blaster fire flashing over the shuttles minimal shielding. Punctuating her concern, another plasma cannon blast arched up at them, this time from a shoulder mounted launcher, but this time Azi deftly side slipped the blast, strafing the attacking ground party as the shuttle moved over the sloped roof of the northern barracks. The slip had evaded the shoulder mounted launcher, but brought her back in line with the Arrow-20 Assault Speeder. She looked at Corso in that moment of terror and indecision and "stang" was all she could manage in her final moments. The mass of explosions that followed caused her to cover her eyes, but as she brought her hands down and opened them…she was still there…so was Corso, and the shuttle was still airborne. "Captain look!" Corso yelled as he pointed out the front view port at the two K-38 assault bombers screaming out of view. Azi barely had time to see the damage done by the loyalist vanguard before she yanked on the control stick, pulling the shuttle into a sharp one hundred-eighty degree turn, the inertial compensators straining to keep the occupants from flying around the shuttle cabin, before accelerating across the channel they had crossed what felt like days earlier, dodging small arms and cannon fire from the bridge until they disappeared over the horizon line.

They landed at Fort Garnik to rousing applause. Opening the hatch she briefly wondered if these militiamen were even aware of their mission, or just the mere fact of returning in a sep ship was reason enough for the hero's welcome. The only one not cheering was the Devaronian Commander Zirilli, the Republic overseer for this operation. Instead he had his hand out for the anti-virals, which Corso unshouldered and handed to the amber-skinned alien. Taking the proffered bag, he proceeded to open it right on the spot. Thankfully that was all he did as he looked up and cracked his first smile "good job you two" looking past Corso and Azi he said "who is this?"

"Captives from Olos and Dyessa, Sir" Corso answered straightening his back, remembering the Republic obsession with formality. "The same captives from the target you instructed us to avoid in the middle of a comms blackout?"

"One in the same Commander" Corso stated, ignoring the rebuke. "And there are still half a dozen girls who we couldn't take but they'll need extraction by your ground forces tomorrow" Azi finished. Zirilli quickly glanced at the girls, Syandra partially hiding behind Corso and Leyani completely obscuring herself behind Azi, the other six still huddled in their seats. "Very good, we'll of course do everything we can." walking up, the tall Devaronian had to bend down before the girls would come out from their protection "I promise we won't leave your friends in there. You will be reunited with them tomorrow. For now I'm going to have Sgt. Boz here take you to our med center to get looked at, and after she'll take you to get a nice hot meal and a nice hot bath...how's that sound?" The girls looked at each other before nodding their heads giddily, and Azi was impressed with the Commander's soft touch. Out of the quickly departing crowd stepped a Rodian in white and blue Republic armor "this way girls" she said in the nasally accented basic of her species. Setting up the girls in a med center to have their cuts, bruises and malnutrition attended to, Leyani the Twi'lek who Azi had learned since their arrival was only fifteen, had held her hand so tightly that Azi could still feel the pressure of her small warm hand minutes after leaving her to bring the two anti-viral tubes to Ruliya. Many in the camp were sick but Azi could only do so much. With the meds back the others would have to see the Republic requisitions officer. Ruliya on the other hand didn't have that time and Azi and Corso were happy to see her color start to return even before they left. The mother was full of gratitude as she offered Azi and Corso a variance of personal trinkets, and a few old credit chits which had obviously been part of their savings for many years, all of which were graciously turned down. Azi may not have had her ship, but she still had her personal credit account, and she wasn't about to use her predicament as an excuse to take advantage of the desperate. She wasn't sure of Corso's situation but one thing was clear; he had the same sense of moral justice, and a clearer sense of what to do to make things more right and less wrong. Walking back into Vidu's warehouse, they made their way up to his living chamber. Reaching the second floor Corso announced "I could eat a live bantha right now I'm so hungry".

"You've been hungry since we met" Azi chuckled "I just can't wait to get this skin-suit off" she said as Corso's eyes widened "what? It's really intrusive…you wouldn't understand." Stopping at the comm terminal outside his door Corso announced "it's us boss, back and blaster hole free" looking back over his shoulder at Azi with his lopsided smirk that seemed to be on his face at all times apart from when he was eating or being shot at. Without reply the door slid to the left inside the adjoining wall, before Corso could finish mumbling that the lack of attempted humor from Vidu was a bit unusual, Azi got a tingle that ran down her spine, the next thing she knew she was pushing him forward and falling backwards, as a blast from the kitchen took a chunk out of the plaster wall where they had just been. They both rolled into firing positions and let loose a torrent of blaster fire into the servant's window of the kitchen. As the last fine plate and bowl clattered and crashed to the floor, a shaky voice rose up from below the opening "I-I surrender". Confusion traced Corso's features "Sereda?" confusion morphed into realization and resolve as he straightened his blaster arm and yelled "throw out your blaster now or we send another extended volley, and this time we know where to aim" the snub-nosed holdout blaster came flying through the servants window and landed at Azi's feet with a dull clatter. "Where's Vidu?! What have you done Sereda?" Corso said as he leaned sideways through the kitchen door, blaster at the ready. He had his answer before she did as he saw Vidu in the corner of the kitchen, a cauterized blaster exit wound covering the entirety of his large forehead. "What I was ordered" she managed to stammer out in an unsure voice. Azi had made her turn into the kitchen with both blaster's drawn "ordered? By who?" she demanded but Corso was a step ahead as he marched over to Sereda and grabbed one of her outstretched wrists, turning it backwards behind her back, eliciting a whimper "Skavak…isn't that right Sereda? Whatever he promised you was a lie".

"He promised we would be together" she said looking at Azi for understanding. Azi lowered her blasters "pathetic" was all she could manage as she walked over to one of the racks and grabbed a hanging chef's apron, gently spreading it out over Vidu's face and chest. As she walked out into the dining room Corso had sat Sereda in a chair, berating her for her betrayal "how could you? After all Vidu had done for you?…and for Skavak? You know him, he's slept with half of Fort Garnik!" that was the first thing Corso said that elicited any reaction as Sereda shook her head and whispered "it's different this time…he's different". Corso stood and shook his own head in disgust. Azi knew the only chance of finding Skavak and her ship was to give Sereda the hope of one day seeing her obsession again. "Alright Sereda, I'm no Jedi and I'm not with the Republic or the militia, you tell me where Skavak was headed and I let you go if not…she raised her blasters".

"Lannik…then Coruscant" she whispered again with her eyes on her bare naval "he has cargo to pick up".

"Thank you Sereda, and as promised" she held her hand up to Corso to forestall any argument "comm the base police" Sereda jerked her head up "what?! You said you'd let me go"

"I am" Azi said holstering her blasters again "I'm letting you go into the custody of the militia police" and she signaled Corso to pick her up and take her to the warehouse entrance. She hurled a slur of insults from over Corso's shoulder ending with "Skavak will kill you! I only told you because I knew you had no chance against him" her last words fading in the hallway as Azi plopped down in the chair and reached for a glass and the same half-finished bottle of Esselian Red she had started three days or three weeks ago, she couldn't tell anymore.

**Ch. 6**

Azi had woke the next morning prepared to travel to Corsucant alone, but had been pleasantly surprised when Corso offered to accompany her. After all, with Vidu dead he was now responsible for the shipment in the eyes of Rogun the Butcher. He would need to get back the weapons and get them to the troops on Ord Mantell. To appease Rogun sure, but maybe more important to Corso than his own safety was the needs of his comrades fighting for their planet. Besides he had said, he needed to get back his stolen blaster that he was Azi believed he was…overly attached to. She had accepted his reasons without too many questions, but couldn't help but wonder if he didn't have another motivation that involved her. The more time she spent with Corso Riggs, the more she hoped he did. Since this continent of Ord Mantell had no running passenger spaceport, the pair were granted passage on a Republic shuttle to the Third Hydian fleet. The Third Fleet's flagship was the _Ashla_, any spacer worth their salt knew Ashla was one of Tython's moons, but Azi couldn't figure why a small moon would warrant the honor, probably something to do with the Jedi she thought. She knew they were seen as the founders and protectors of the Republic. Like everyone, Azi had heard the stories and seen the holos and she was continually amazed how a group of a few thousand mystics could have such influence over half a million worlds. Like everyone, Azi had heard the stories and seen the holos, but that didn't stop her from sometimes wondering where their vaunted protection was when she was being sold like a well-bred Akk hound… deep down she knew that it was petty resentment for her situation and that she couldn't expect a small Order no matter how powerful to save everyone, but it still stung regardless. The Battle Carrier was easily the largest ship Azi had ever laid eyes on. A giant red and white dagger, with its stern slightly thicker than the guts and bow which ended in a blunt nose. The _Ashla_ was large enough to have an entire sector mid ship devoted to the needs of the Republic's numerous allies and contractors. Given Corso and Azi's work on Ord Mantell they were each given pass cards to access the numerous shops and cantinas in the gaudy civilian wing. After buying a new shield charger for the _True North _as an apology for what was going to be her brief kidnapping, she and Corso stopped at one of the smaller unnamed cantinas off one of the side corridors. Sipping a couple Corellian light ales in a quiet setting allowed each to share their own heartbreaking story of lives spent in a galaxy at war. Corso feeling comfortable enough around Azi now opened up about his parent's death a decade earlier and his subsequent estrangement from his brother. Jordy Riggs had blamed the Republic for his parent's demise, leaving his little brother in the care of an aunt to join the Empire in its battle for a neatly ordered galaxy. Corso who was two years younger than Jordy wouldn't see his older sibling for nearly five years, and then only in an effort to recruit the then eighteen year old Corso into the righteous Imperial Army. But Corso, who blamed not only his parents death, but Ord Mantell's ruin on the Empire's lust for control would not hear any of Jordy's propaganda, and after a short scuffle in which the older Rigg's realized he could no longer push around his little brother, Jordy left and had not commed Corso since. Corso likewise had made no further attempt to find his childhood idol. For Azi's part, she was pleased to see Corso seemed to care more about hearing her story, than he did about telling his own…an unusual trait in beings of any species or gender she thought. Having a couple more ales than either meant to, they pinballed more than walked, down the corridor to their two assigned rooms, laughing and steadying themselves on each other until they reached Azi's room. "Well this is it" she said fumbling for her keycard. "Yeah…" he said as he looked for a place to rest his hands for a moment. Not finding anywhere comfortable he swung them around wildly saying "…I'm right down the hall there" now pointing behind him. Azi with card in hand now chuckled at his nervous buffoonery "yeah, I know"… _so his confidence fails him off the battlefield she thought_. Wanting to put an end to his suffering she said "thanks for the drink, err drinks" and wrapped an arm around his neck while kissing his cheek. As her lips parted his cheek he turned into her and their lips met. Caught by surprise at the bold move she initially jerked her head back, but he held on till she realized this is what she was hoping he would do a minute ago. At that she rewrapped her arms around his neck and let her smaller body melt into his. The kiss was deep and long enough to provide entertainment for a couple of snickering passersby, drunk walking down the hall as they had a minute earlier. It was Corso who finally broke the kiss, maybe a few moments too early for Azi. Breaking apart she said "well that was…surprising…pleasantly though".

"Goodnight Captain" he said with a lopsided grin as he broke the hug and turned to walk to his room. Azi didn't know if she was going to invite him in but he didn't really give her a chance to think about it. Playing it cool is not something she would've thought capable for Corso Riggs.

The next morning Azi woke from a pleasant dream about Corso to Corso telling her to wake up. Waking to Corso's voice from this carnal dream gave her a moment of panicked confusion until she realized it was coming from the door comm. She sat up in bed "Captain, we got twenty minutes to departure…really got to get going". Looking at the bedside chrono she yelled "fierfek!" and jumped out of bed. Wrapping the bed sheet around her naked body she made it to the door and opened it. Corso was standing there in his black bantha leather jacket with two steaming cups of caf "you're a lifesaver" she said as she turned to head for the bathroom. "Just leave it on the table and I'll be out in two minutes" she said as she started the shower. Four and a half minutes later Azi opened the bathroom door a crack "uhh Corso". A second later her vision was filled by a stack of folded clothes "forgot your clothes?" he said from behind the stack. She opened to take the stack and mouthed the word "lifesaver" again. Fourteen minutes later they were passing through the last security checkpoint and boarding the passenger ship _Nebula Queen _for the fifteen hour trip to Coruscant.

**Ch. 7**

Kai-Kwon awoke with a start, pushing himself up on outstretched arms behind him. He used a hand to wipe the thin film of sweat that had collected on his brow as he tried to recall the nightmare that woke him…but he couldn't. He couldn't recall the feeling that woke him…because that terrible feeling had not left with the fogginess of sleep. He sat all the way up and closed his eyes, sinking into a meditative trance. The Force did not have to take him far before he pinpointed the disturbance, opening his eyes he called out "Orgus!"

The sun still hadn't risen when Kai-Kwon was ushered back into the Council chambers in front of the hastily awoken Masters. They listened intently to his vision of Orgus Din bloodied and bruised, and to Kai's great relief the power of the Master/Padawan connection still held great sway over the Council. "Your orders still stand. You are to retrieve Orgus Din and find out who is holding him and for what purpose. Only this time you will be accompanied by Master Zon and ten others of our choosing. Given the small army of Flesh Raiders that could be waiting for you we will have to trust in the Force that this will be enough." standing now she added "you will leave in an hour. Prepare yourself".

After adorning the chest plate, gauntlets, and durasteel leggings necessary for any mission where violence was nearly assured, Kai-Kwon made his way back to the speeder hangar where a few minutes later all the Jedi had assembled. Master Shan had chosen from the largest, strongest and best offensive blade masters in the Order, given the Raider's size and the fact they still had not shown a penchant for blasters they weren't taking a defensive tact. They would be led on this mission by Su-Diri Zon, a human woman Council member from Commenor. She was considered to be one of the greatest blade masters in the Order, having mastered the dual bladed Soresu form. She was tall and lean with a severe but not unpleasant face, her graying black hair cut short and pulled back into a simple pony tail. Six of the ten additions were human, and Kai-Kwon silently revisited his old hope for a future Order that wasn't so human-centric. Master Zon was not one for speeches only intoning "may the Force be with us" before turning to straddle her speeder bike. Kai-Kwon and the other ten Jedi Knights followed her lead and one by one they zipped out the open hangar and down the ramp into the morning light and steady falling snow, leaving Bail and Ilyria watching from the hangar ramp.

They reached Kalikori by midday and Kai-Kwon immediately noticed even stranger behavior on behalf of the village denizens. Most came out of their hovels at the sound of the speeders with blaster rifle in hand, only to make faces of surprise at the platoon of Jedi motoring by, before turning back around to head back into their homes. But it wasn't surprise Kai was seeing on their faces…it looked more like worry…and felt like hostility. Master Zon sensed something dark as well. She bypassed the speeder pad and kept riding through the village, finally shutting off the bikes closer to Town Hall. "What's going on here Jedi Deo?" Master Zon asked as she swung her long leg off the bike. "I'm not sure Master but the villagers have seemed strange since our arrival yesterday morning, now that strangeness has given way to something else altogether" he answered shutting off his own bike and heading to the front steps. "I don't like it" she said and Kai-Kwon could feel her tense next to him as they ascended the stairs. As they entered the great hall Ryu was descending the back stairs from the top floor master chambers where her mother had been laid up. "Jedi… Deo" she said stopping halfway down the steps to gaze over at the twelve large and suspicious looking Knights wiping the snow from their shoulders and looking around in obvious unease. Ryu made it the rest of the way downstairs before she spoke again "I…just wasn't-"

"wasn't what Ryu?" Kai-Kwon asked, all pretense of naiveté gone as the Knights around him began to tense even more. It was Master Zon who spoke next "where is Master Din?" she said stepping in front of Kai-Kwon. For a moment it looked as though Ryu was going to answer but then her composure faltered, and she crumpled to her knees burying her face in her hands "he's gone!" she cried through tears and phlegm. Kai-Kwon sunk to the ground in front of her and removed her hands from her face "gone where Ryu? What has happened?" the young Twi'lek looked at him with tears streaming down her cheeks "ha-he...t-took him" she managed through hyperventilating breaths. "Enough of this" Kai heard from behind him as Master Zon reached down to grab her by the loose robe around her shoulder and yank her up, but Kai-Kwon grabbed the Master's wrist "Master Zon please…she knows me?" He said while subtly begging forgiveness with his eyes "very well. But we need answers Kai-Kwon" she said releasing Ryu and retaking her place with the group behind him. By the time he looked back to Ryu the heavy sobbing had stopped and she had found her voice, no doubt motivated by the menacing Jedi Master. "He was taken before sunrise by the Nautolan."

"Who is this Nautolan?" Kai-Kwon asked

"We always believed him to be a Jedi like you" she said, the relief in her unburdening coming through in waves. "He never told us his name but he controls the Flesh Raiders. During the attack…the only attack, he slipped in with the Raiders and poisoned the Matriarch. It was unlike anything we had seen from the mountains. It paralyzed her and he told us she only had a week before it paralyzed her lungs and she…died." The tears began to streak and she hung her face in her hands again as Kai looked behind him to Master Zon "Bengel Morr maybe" she answered the silent question. Bengel Morr was a Jedi Knight who had gone missing a little over three years ago. Bengel's frustration at the Council and the Treaty was well known, and most assumed he had left Tython for the outer rim or Imperial space. It wasn't long after the Nautolan's disappearance that Deron Sy-Zota vanished in similar fashion. Kai gave Ryu a few more seconds before he removed her hands from her distorted face, "go on". "He told us that only he had the antidote for this off world poison and to get it we had to call the Temple for help. Once whichever Master was sent was poisoned we were to hand him over…and..." she stopped and looked at the ceiling "tell me" he could barely control his rising anger "-and we were supposed to get rid of the Padawan". Her story told, Kai-Kwon rose, leaving the girl a crumpled mess of pain and guilt on the floor "it was you who poisoned Master Din wasn't it?" She didn't, or couldn't answer, but she didn't need to. "It must've been a slow acting agent but I can remember Orgus looking a bit tired even on the way up the mountain" he said to the assembled Knights. "Is it fatal?" Su-Diri asked. This time she did look up and just shook her head "…we were told it was catalytic. That the poison would not enter his blood stream until he exerted himself, but once he did the poison would reach his brain and put him into a coma.… but we were told it wouldn't be fatal to a Jedi!" she yelled through tears again. "Is it the same poison he used on the Matriarch?" Kai-Kwon asked. She could only nod as she bit her lip to hold back the tears. Turning to Master Zon he said "I need time to establish a connection to Master Din" looking around the hall for a quiet room. He felt a pull on his pant leg and looked down to see Ryu looking up at him "I'm so sorry Jedi Deo. Now we have nothing…my mother, our Matriarch will die and we won't even have your protection". Kai reached down and grasped her under her armpits, pulling her to her feet. "We will find this Nautolan and the cure he says he has. I don't know what will become of our partnership but you should have trusted us. I understand your fear and your panic but you just should have told us…we could've thought of something". She could only hang her head as her shoulders heaved again. Suddenly the rhythmic clanging of a bell could be heard coming from outside. Ryu's head shot up. "What? What is it?" the Miralian Jedi Knight Feelen Tooz, his green face adorned with purple tattoos crinkling in confusion. "We're-we're being attacked" she said as if she couldn't believe things could get worse, pulling herself up with Kai-Kwon's help. Her lekku whipped around her back as she looked out the front windows. Suddenly a pink skinned Twi'lek burst through the front door with a blaster rifle in hand "Mistress Ryu!" he shouted "the Flesh Raiders are back". Ryu flashed a look to the Jedi that said tell me what I should do. "You are the Matriarch for now Ryu. You must rally your defenses" he answered her silent plea. That inherited determination finally appeared as she grabbed a blaster rifle off the rack by the front door and moved through the doorway. The male Twi'lek on her heels. Kai-Kwon and the other Jedi all seemed to look at Master Zon at once "what do we do?" asked the well-muscled human Jedi Knight named Kaz Andruki. "We fight. Until the Council rules otherwise this village is still under our protection" they all nodded in agreement and Kai-Kwon was glad they were led by a warrior like Su-Diri Zon. The Jedi filed out of the great front door, taking up a position on the front steps, two to each with Master Zon on the top landing and Kai in front of the steps on the fresh snow. There had to be sixty Raiders moving down from their mountain ridge perch into the village below. The Raiders did not intend this daylight raid to take them by surprise. They moved methodically down to the village confident in their numbers. As they made their way into the village, Kai-Kwon watched the Twi'leks led by Ryu, overturn tables and take defensive positions behind them, the buildings, and throughout the empty market. Finally the horde stopped between the central market and the row of homes Kai had slept in just two nights before. An eerie silence descended across the village as this pre-battle ritual commenced. The Jedi stood on the steps of the village hall, their robes fluttering behind them and whipping against their armor in front. For their part the Raiders didn't seem to notice the Twi'leks taking aim at them, their sole focus appeared to be on the Jedi, and Kai-Kwon wondered if their arrival didn't trigger this attack. It was Master Zon that broke the attempted intimidation "Leave now and you have my word we will not follow" her voice boomed across wind and snow. For the briefest of moments Kai thought the heavily armored Raider in front was going to speak, honestly nothing would surprise him anymore. But instead he unsheathed a small axe from its back waistband and hurled it at incredible speed at Master Zon's head, who with a quick flick of her hand sent the blade careening by her and burying itself in the wall next to the door. Without wasting that movement of her hand she unsheathed both sabers and ignited them. That began an orderly ignition of blue, green, and yellow sabers that ended with Kai-Kwon in front of the bottom step. The chief Raider let out a tremendous war cry and he could see the spittle connected from one razor sharp fang to the other. All at once, the village exploded into a torrent of battle sounds. The Raiders charged, the Twi'leks blasters opened up, and the Jedi ran or leapt to meet the challenge. Kai ran to meet the front line of the Raiders as they ran to meet him. The first Raider in front of him charged with large vibro-axe held over his right shoulder, Kai held out his free hand and called the axe to it with the Force. The confused Raider, with hands still clutching a tool that was no longer there, ran into Kai's outstretched blade. In the same instant Kai-Kwon hurled the large axe into the back of another Raider flanking Tyosa Kyo, as he withdrew his blade from the still confused but now dying Raider. The next minutes of the battle were bloody and furious as Kai blocked, parried, and thrusted his way to the middle of the Flesh Raider pack. He blocked the wild swings of another Raider in front of him while ducking and sweeping, slicing through the Raider's legs at his ankles. In the midst of battle he got a another image of Orgus, this time surrounded by stone works and in front of a small stone building that housed a light saber construction table… "the Forge!" he yelled while sweeping his blade across the midsection of another Raider "what's that?!" Master Zon called out next to him, her twin blue blades blocking attacks from the four Raiders around her "Master Din is at the Forge! And he's in trou-!" the last word cut off by the renewed attack of another Raider. "Go!" she yelled. Seeing his worry she added "we will hold the village, now GO!" Kai put his faith in the Force and ducked out of the melee, ending the life of the attacking Raider as he did.

"Thank you again Anthora, I will leave you in peace". Calling after him again she said "don't you want to know why I've done this?" Straddling his bike he said "I know why. You were scared. Scared for your mother and scared for yourself that you didn't have what it takes to lead." she looked at him in bewilderment, "but you don't have to be scared, you have everything it takes; you have your heart which is good and pure, and you have the respect of those you fear to lead" the shock did not leave her face but it was joined by a smile as the young handsome Jedi rode up the mountain pass and out of sight.

"My army has failed Doctor. Without the Chieftain and my apprentice they lack any discipline" Bengel Morr hissed into his comm device. "Did you really expect your army of mongrels to destroy the Jedi Order?" the Doctor answered. "I believed if I could have developed their latent Force ability then we would have a chan-"

"A chance at what? Replacing the Jedi with an order of beasts? I see now I should have spelled it out a little more".

"What are you saying Doctor?" Bengel snapped his anger and embarrassment rising.

"That your…army was only ever to be a distraction. Now they have served their purpose, I suggest you leave the planet" the voice answered back nonchalantly.

"Very well. I will leave for Coruscant immediately…but I don't appreciate being left out of the loop".

"Then you need to rise above your idealism as it only makes you naïve

"I-" but the connection was gone. Bengel threw the device against the wall and buried his head against his balled fists on the stone table. Meanwhile in a darkened apartment on Coruscant the "Doctor" smiled at his ability to bend even superior beings to his will. Bengel Morr had no chance of getting off Tython and he had provided the needed distraction without ever believing himself to be bait. He slipped the comm into his belt and begin making his preparations.

Hours since leaving Kalikori, night had fallen and Kai-Kwon felt he was getting closer. He had been to the Forge once before with Orgus as a history lesson some ten years earlier, but he remembered it being much further. Must've been his lack of enthusiasm for history as a twelve year old. He was worried for his former Master and wanted to get to him as quickly as possible but he needed a moment, he hadn't rested since before the battle and had been moving at an outright run for most of the trek. He sat on a large boulder and used this time to sink into the Force. Kai-Kwon's ability was such that the Force became a completely separate realm in which he could fly in non-corporeal form. the reverberations could feel almost tangible and the life force of a normal being felt like a light source seen behind closed eye lids, or a flame in a snowstorm, depending on the Force alignment of the being. Kai-Kwon could fly to each and dismiss them based on the strength of their presence. Just seconds in the Force Kai could sense ahead a bright light surrounded by a star hot ember, and he knew he had found what he sought. Climbing a little farther he finally came into a clearing where he could see his destination for the first time. One ancient tree stood guard over the front steps, and as Kai ran his hand across its knotted surface he was hit by a vivid flashback of his trip here a decade before. Thinking of Orgus' lesson that day on legacy being our immortality, he was struck by the permanence of nature. At how much he had changed in those ten short years, when the tree was an exact replica of itself from years before. Kai shook himself out of his philosophizing and glanced up at the ancient stone city. The Forge itself was an ancient machine built by the first Je'daii over twenty-five thousand years ago. It had originally been known as Vur Tepe, one of the eight original temples created by the forefathers of the Order. It had been the temple of creation, where the Force could be manifested physically. First in steel, but later in the lightsabers they wield today. It had gone on to be a place of pilgrimage, where young Jed'aii traveled to create the light sabers, or Force sabers as they were known then since the beam of plasma energy could only be ignited and operated through intense focus. He briefly marveled at the ability of the early Je'daii, to devote so much focus to simply keeping their blade ignited, and still having the residual focus and power to fight as ferociously as the ancient texts say. Vur Tepe was a shadow of its former self, the tiered roof completely gone, leaving only the stone foundation. The active volcano that once bubbled perpetually below the temple, had gone dormant thousands of years ago, transforming the landscape around it to a more temperate climate. The temple ruins had much later become a village known as Demoria for the dormant volcano it was built upon, but even that small population had disappeared with the Great Expansion. The actual saber crafting machine was housed inside the main courtyard. It was a bright night with the moon of Ashla in its full phase, while Bogan was covered in blackness as always. He began the arduous trek up the four-thousand on-hundred and ninety-three steps, a numerical significance that had become lost in translation to the modern Jedi. Kai stopped briefly to collect himself and replenish his energy for the battle he knew might be coming before eventually pushing his way off the last large step and onto the dark stone plateau. Instead of worsening the snow and wind had all but stopped, leaving a thin white blanket on every surface. With this new clarity it wasn't long before Kai's temporary exhaustion gave way to adulation as he saw Orgus bound and bloodied, but alive in front of the small dome that housed the Forge in Demoria's main courtyard. From the walkway that ringed the entire abandoned village, Kai looked for the nemesis behind this plot, and though he could see no one but Orgus, he could sense the darkness. Walking to the edge of the wall, he bypassed the short stairways on either side of him, and leapt the fifteen meters down to the courtyard floor. At the sound of his landing Orgus Din looked up and flashed a bloodied smile "I'm not sure how you got by my soldiers" came an angry voice from inside the darkened doorway to the forge, followed soon after by a Nautolan clad in red chest and leg armor over his beige tunic and wrapped in the same dark robes Kai-Kwon remembered from the Temple "but you have inserted yourself into matters you can't hope to comprehend…youngling"

"Bengal Morr?" Kai asked. Bengel Morr had been a few years older than Kai-Kwon and they had never really spoken except for polite greetings passing each other in the hallways on their way to and from training sessions. "I knew the villagers would be too weak to do what was necessary" said Bengel as he stepped fully into Ashla's light. "Not weak Bengel" Kai-Kwon said loosening his robe at the waist "Just strong enough to defy you and your manipulation".

"Well then, they, like your Master" Bengel gestured at the bound Orgus next to him "have been so indoctrinated that they cannot see what I'm doing".

"What are you doing Bengel? You were a good Je-"

"still a good Jedi!" Bengel hissed "it's you and him" he said pointing at Orgus "and the Council that no longer understands what that means!"

Kai-Kwon sensed the only chance at a peaceful resolution here was to allow Bengel to air his grievances and try to reason with him "what does it mean to you?" Kai asked

"Do not play with me boy! Do you think I don't know you are stalling me while help arrives?"

Kai help up his empty hands in a gesture of surrender, "my help is down in Kalikori, fighting for their lives and the lives of the villagers, against your brutes".

Bengel smiled with sharp fangs exposed "at least some beings have the stomach to do what is necessary".

"Yes, well when mindless beasts are your allies…by the Force Bengel, these are your brothers and sisters you are slaughtering!" Kai could no longer keep the anger from his voice, "what are you doing?!"

"Bringing justice to the galaxy! Not shirking from the responsibility because it may take violence to attain it" he matched Kai-Kwon's rising voice before catching himself with a quick smile before continuing.

"We walk in the light yes but we cannot be so blinded by the light that it causes us to appease evil, to placate corruption, or neglect innocent life for the sake of peace at any cost!" he finished with a wave of his arm encompassing everything.

"You are angry Bengel, I do not need the Force to tell me that. You are angry about the treaty…we all are. You are angry that the Sith hold half the galaxy under their cruel thumb…we all are. Our Order is not infallible, we make mistakes yes, but we work within the confines of what we have. The Senate wanted a ceasefire, the people of the Republic wanted an end to the fighting, and do you believe we should retake control of the government and dictate to the people?" Kai clasped his hands in front of him almost pleading for Bengel to see reason but with Bengel's next word he knew he had not "yes. We used to lead, and those were peaceful times. Beings are corruptible, and most don't know what they want except that they know it's their wants that are important. From the beginning, we were placed here by the Tho-Yor to lead these people! Not advise them! Or wait for them to ask for our help! We live under the tyranny of an apathetic and selfish majority!" he yelled at what he saw as the backwardness of the galaxy. Kai-Kwon could only shake his head "then how would we differ from our enemy's brother?"

"Because we would fight for what is right! Justice, peace" Bengel answered more confident in his logic now,

"The Sith believe _they_ fight for what is right! For their own justice! Their own brand of peace. Maybe there is a discernable difference now Bengel, but I can promise the lines will blur until you couldn't distinguish a Sith from a Jedi. Better Jedi have gone down the path you now walk on, only one has returned to see the error of these ways" Kai finished, his voice returning to controlled and measured. "Look at you" Bengel said with a look of disdain "even now you talk when your former master's life is in my hands, when you know you should fight! But you, like myself for a time, have been corrupted by the pacifism of the Council" Bengel said as he began to slowly walk in a circle to Kai'Kwon's right "you assume too much Bengel" Kai responded

"Do I?"

"You assume that I am only here to save Orgus Din. That if Master Din was being held by pirates or Imperials that I would announce my presence and open dialogue. But what you fail to see is I did not come for Orgus Din alone. I came to save you as well brother. To keep you from falling and in turn keep the Order from losing a powerful son." Kai said now mirroring Bengal's circular walk. Pleas aside Kai-Kwon knew they had already begun the ancient ritual of saber combat. Bengel knew it too and he propelled them to the next stage "I'm sorry brother, but the Order must be cleansed to be saved. We know now we cannot accomplish this with dialogue. I underestimated you, I see that now. You would've made a great Jedi" Bengel said softly as he ignited his greenish white blade and broke the circle moving forward in a ferocious aerial spinning attack The initial attack was quicker than Kai-Kwon expected as he forgot to factor in the Nautolan's superior reflexes, and he parried Bengel's blade aside just as the super-heated plasma made contact with the brow above his right eye. Kai stumbled back briefly as the searing light briefly burned the vision from his right eye. Sometimes millimeter misses weren't really misses in light saber combat, as Kai-Kwon felt the steady flow of blood over his right eye and down his cheek, and saw the devilish grin of confidence on the face of his opponent. The battle took them away from the Forge and back to the steps and wall Kai-Kwon had leapt down from minutes before. Bengel's attacks had not slowed or relented since his opening salvo, leaving Kai-Kwon no opening to counter attack. While Bengel Morr was faster and more experienced, Kai-Kwon was stronger both in body and in the force and was able to block and parry his most powerful strokes without effort or losing all important body position and leverage. Fighting in the shadow of the giant wall he had just been standing on Kai-Kwon could feel it closing in behind him, he force leapt into the moonlight of the walkway at the zenith of the entrance stairway, and Bengel followed. A minute later Kai-Kwon still had not made an offensive stroke with his blade, and yet…he was winning. He knew it, and he could now sense that Bengel knew it as well. Allowing Bengel to take the offensive, Kai-Kwon had succeeded in discouraging and now deflating his confidence. Which as the greatest battle masters of the Temple frequently told the Padawans was the single most important factor in a battle…outside of the Force of course. Now after a few minutes of handling Bengel's quickest and most powerful attacks without any close calls, he had his in full and Bengel's was evaporating. Feeling this shift in the Force, he finally launched his counter-attack, waiting for Bengel's next over hand cross strike but this time instead of simply blocking its path he put everything into blocking the strike and pushing the blade back, opening up Bengel's midsection for a brief moment, which Kai used to launch a quick force push, staggering the Nautolan backwards. He didn't waste the opening and launched a side kick to Bengel's stomach, causing the air to rush out of his lungs like a popped balloon. With leverage on his side, Kai launched a series of overhead strikes alternating from each side of his body, the power of each succeeded in pushing Bengel lower and lower to the perimeter wall's stone floor, until finally Kai saw the green blade extinguish and clatter to the stone floor before careening off the parapet to the mountain below. The defeated Bengel Morr dropped to his knees with a growl of anger and Kai-Kwon brought his blade up to Bengel's chin as the Nautolan looked up with hatred and disgust, "whatever you do with me doesn't matter, events are already in motion to save the Republic". Deactivating his blade, he circled behind Bengel with a pair of flex cuffs. "What events? Who else is with you?" Bengel refused to look up, his eyes never leaving the ground in front of him as Kai-Kwon bound his wrists and ankles. Coming back around in front, he took him by both shoulders and shook until Bengel looked him in the eye "what have you done Bengel Morr?!" he shouted louder than he intended. Bengel only offered a crooked smile "I have saved the Republic, and initiated the defeat of the Sith Empire…what have you done?" he turned the question on Kai-Kwon mockingly. "I will be remembered as a hero of the Republic. You?…an enemy of it" Bengel returned his gaze to the ground in front of him and Kai-Kwon knew he would get no more out of him now as he stood, activating his comm to the Temple. An unnecessary task as he saw a Temple shuttle approaching from the south. After bounding the fallen Jedi, Kai-Kwon rushed to his injured former mentor. Reaching him he began to untie his hands when Orgus spoke "he was speaking to someone just before you arrived" Not realizing Orgus was conscience the sound of his voice startled him a bit. "Speaking to whom master?" Kai said from over his shoulder "I'm not sure but I am sure he didn't think I could hear him. he said he had failed, that Jedi from the Temple were coming, and that they should proceed without him if he doesn't arrive by tomorrow morning" Kai knew better than to ask a needless question like where since a straight to the point being like Orgus Din would've given that information first, and the rest on the way there. As he helped Orgus up they could just make out the sounds of the approaching sublight engines. Kai saw Bengel look in the direction of the approaching shuttle, and then lowered his forehead to the stone ground, no doubt contemplating his bleak future. As the shuttle descended to the courtyard, the side portal opened to reveal a bloodied and weary looking Su-Diri Zon. She hopped down to the snow covered ground and began barking orders to the four Temple guards debarking behind her. As she approached she saw the blood covering the right half of Kai-Kwon's face and asked "is it serious?" Kai-Kwon reached up to his face for the first time and tried to wipe some of the blood off his cheek but found it was already too dry, "no Master, superficial"

"I'm glad Jedi Deo but I was asking your former Master" she said and Kai-Kwon could tell it was not a joke, something had happened. "I'm fine Su-Diri. Bengel injected me with the cure to wake me up…the rest is superficial like young Kai-Kwon's wounds". Looking behind Su-Diri as she reached the two of them Kai-Kwon asked "where is everyone else Master?"

"Back at the Temple…Feelen Tooz has become one with the Force. Deno Vicara and Owen Tidina both were grievously wounded. The Raiders forced us to kill them all." she finished as she and Kai-Kwon helped Orgus to his feet and began to walk him back to the shuttle. "I'm sorry to hear that but I feel the danger has only begun to get real for us" Orgus said from in between the two of them. Their first stop was too Kalikori. Flying in low over the village to land Kai could see the dark splotches on the snow and the destroyed market stands from the earlier battle. Only an exhausted looking Ryu and two of her maiden's walked out of the village hall to meet them. Master Zon handed Kai-Kwon a vial of antidote taken from Bengel and he hopped down out of the shuttle into the crunchy snow and trotted the distance to Ryu. "Are you here to arrest me?" she said with worry her eyes. "No. we have bigger problems Ryu. We have only come to fulfill our promise" he said grabbing her wrist gently and placing the vial in her open palm "for the Matriarch. The full amount." The relief and gratitude were overwhelming for her as she fell to her knees with hands covering her eyes. Kai-Kwon simply nodded to the Twi'lek maidens, replaced his cowl, and turned to head back to the still running shuttle. "Don't you want to know why I've done this?" She called to him. Slowing his trot he turned back "I know why. You were scared. Scared for your mother and scared for yourself that you didn't have what it takes to lead." she looked at him biting down on her quivering lip as the truth of her last few days was said aloud., "but you don't have to be scared, you have everything it takes; you have your heart which is good and pure, and you have the respect of those you fear to lead" the tears continued unabated, but as the young Jedi climbed into his shuttle, they were finally joined by a smile. Kai was quiet on the ride back to the Temple, Standing and leaning out of the open side port, looking down at the passing countryside blanketed by midnight. Orgus could sense his inner conflict but waited until they had returned and handed over Bengel Morr to Masters Buwillix and Noor waiting next to the landing pad in the Temple's hangar. Many other Knights and Padawans had crowded into the hangar to see the arrival of the last shuttle, and as Kai-Kwon was brisked away to the Council chambers he caught the eye of Kira Carson standing amongst some of the other Knights and Padawans, she broke that eye contact almost immediately. But not before he thought he saw in those eyes…relief. After a formal retelling of the day's events he was told to get a couple hours of rest and meet the masters in the Council chamber at sunrise. Walking down to the Temple's first floor he heard Orgus call his name and turned to see the veteran master had waved away a medic trying to apply a medicinal cream to the cut on his face, "Bengel Morr troubles you Kai-Kwon" it was a statement more than a question and he knew not to be coy "yes master" he answered.

"Because you feel he was right about some things?" he asked this time and Kai-Kwon paused a moment before nodding and again said "yes master".

"I do as well" Orgus said with a conspiratorial smile "but you remembered what's important where Bengel did not." Kai-Kwon gripped the railing to fully face him, "I won't stand here and give you platitudes about the Council always knows best. We Jedi were never meant to be a hive mind like the Killik. We have differing opinions on politics, the use of violence, even the nature of the Force but what we try and teach all of you is there is never a quick fix to our problems. The dark side of the Force promises us one and it tempts us with this promise. We must always recognize that and know that serving the Force is a hard journey, not meant to be taken lightly and it's never meant to be easy." Kai-Kwon nodded slowly as his old master's words sunk in "now rest for the night and think on this. Don't push it off for another time. Doubts must be confronted, not stored in the back of our minds"

"I will Master Din" he said as he turned to head to his quarters. "Oh and Jedi Deo?" Orgus called out from above as Kai stopped to turn around again "Yes Master?"

"Come to the Council chamber at sunrise…we have much to discuss" he affirmed his understanding and began the walk to his room on the eastern wing of the bottom floor, knowing the words of Bengel Morr and Orgus Din would take the place of a noisy vid screen he couldn't turn off.

**Ch. 8**

Two hours into the trip aboard the passenger liner _Esseles,_ they still hadn't mentioned the kiss they had shared the previous night. Instead focusing on their plan to find Skavak, which involved the late Vidu's contact in the Old Lusinya Market district, a gambler, information broker, and all around fixer named Darmus Pollaran. Deciding to stretch their legs and get some lunch they made their way to the ship's dining hall. An M-Class liner, the _Esseles _was the flagship of Davek Spaceliners, and had been requisitioned by the Republic to transport refugees and important civilians from the front lines to the core. As such, it was a bit of first class luxury that Azi and many others on board would have never had the chance to experience. The corridors were painted a combination of dark and light blue with gold trim dividers. The floors were carpeted with gold ornate light fixtures along the wall, and the dining hall they entered had an impressive chandelier that must've been twenty meters wide. Standing in line and looking through the glass divider she could see an assortment of meats and vegetables, pre-determined based on the species makeup of the passenger manifest. Azi being a Twi'lek who subsisted on a diet of mostly meat was eyeing a blood red cut of Nerf steak which Corso could only shake his head at as he pointed to a well done slice of the same animal. Azi made the same head shake before adding the motion of scoring a sky ball goal, a long running joke between races that you could play the game with the centerpiece of human dinners. As Corso laughed Azi got the same old tingling throughout her body that told her something was about to happen, as if on cue Corso's laughter was cut short by the rattling of the walls behind them, and the cooking pots and pans which clattered to the ground behind the kitchen staff. Before the danger could register there was an even louder crash, this time followed by alarm klaxons, and the voice of the captain over the ship's PA system, "attention, attention this is the Captain. It appears we are being detained by an Imperial battle cruiser. We are transmitting surrender protocols and will keep you informed. Thank you and please remain calm. Our security will be moving all passengers to wait by our life pods, which are adequate to accommodate all passengers. Any violence or disobedience towards our security personnel will be grounds for arrest" said a voice that was trying to sound calm but failing miserably. The human female next to Azi in line began shaking her head in seeming disbelief, "they're here for me…I have to find him". Azi looked at the woman as if she was breaking down but she seemed completely lucid and in control "why are they here for you?" Azi asked still incredulous. Just then the ship rocked again and the smoke pouring through ventilation told Azi that the shields were down. The woman grabbed Azi to keep from falling on her backside and looked at her with fear in her eyes "I can't say but I have to find my protector" she said scanning the faces of the passengers starting to run by them. "OK I can't help you if I don't know who to look for" Azi said trying to focus the woman through sheer will. "He's a Jedi named Ka'Rin Antares".

"Yeah that doesn't really help" Azi said, and even though she was a little disbelieving she started scanning faces anyway.

"He's an Iktochi, with the same head tails..."she said pointing at Azi's lekku "only his are shorter and he's more grayish red in complexion".

"Yes I'm familiar with Iktochi, we're all related you know" she said and silently chided herself for the timing.

"Really?"

"No…what else?" Maybe feeling a little foolish or just thinking she turned away with her fingers at her temples "oh well he's wearing a dark brown robe…like they do you know?"

"Yeah I've seen the holos. Where was he when you last saw hi-"

"-Azi, we should think about moving…somewhere else" Corso interrupted tapping her shoulder. "…I-I left him at our seats, this way" she answered following Azi's gesture to ignore him, and pointed to the second class steerage. "Alright Corso let's move" she said and the three took off past huddled and fleeing passengers.

It didn't take long to find the Jedi as he was the only calm passenger to be found, guiding passengers to life pods. His dark brown robes and beige tunic with utility belt and the iconic metal cylinder dangling from it were straight out of a holo she had seen. They could see him working his way towards them as the woman tried to explain their situation to the large security guard who was instructing them to turn around and get in line. "Sergeant! Sergeant!" the guard turned from the trio to see the tall and fit Iktochi male moving towards him with purpose. Azi could see his eyes taking in his appearance and registering it with the image of the holovid heroes he had probably watched as a child too, since his gruff manners became the image of deference "I'm sorry Sargent Kimley, but this woman is with me" the Jedi said pointing at the human who Azi realized she was still grasping, and dropped her hands to her side. Now looking at Azi and Corso he said "I don't know who these two are, they can go" he said with a dismissive gesture. "They were helping me find you Jedi Antares" the woman said. "then I thank you for your assistance but you must follow the others to the life po-" he stopped and eyed Azi with an inscrutable look, Azi not satisfied to wait for his evaluation to conclude on its own spoke up "look Jedi…Antares, we just left Ord Mantell where we were fighting the Empire…we can help. Let us help" he seemed to consider this before shaking his head "commendable of you but I can't put a civilian in dan-". Before the word 'danger' completely left the Jedi's mouth, he turned to the corridor behind him and drew his light saber. Sgt. Kimley who had been watching the exchange with interest, started to turn himself before unleashed an agonizing wail as a flash of light emanated from his chest. Azi saw the smoking exit crater of a high caliber blaster rifle before the young security guard crumpled to the ground, his body a lifeless shell. Looking to the side access corridor Azi saw the red and gray armor of Imperial commandos. "They've boarded" Antares yelled over the din of repeating blasters and the screams of civilians cut down in the crossfire. Before Azi could activate her shield the Jedi ignited a yellow energy beam and began twirling movements too fast to clearly make out, his brilliant yellow energy sword spinning so fast it left a glowing trail that encapsulated him. Suddenly blaster bolts seemed to bounce off of him, a few making it back to their source, sending commandoes back into the walls. With no time to admire the feat, the four began running full speed up the central corridor to the bridge…and hopefully a plan Azi thought. Two minutes later they had accessed the secure lift to the bridge with the Jedi's clearance. When the lift doors opened Azi saw… pandemonium. Navigators and pilots seemed to be everywhere but where they were supposed to be, and seeing the Captain nervously pacing and flailing his arms in front of the towering holo of a severe looking human she could see where they were getting their example. Given his bearing and chest full of holographic medals it was obvious he could only be the Captain of the destroyer that had been pummeling the _Esseles_. The hologram disappeared before they reached the Captain and Azi was a bit breathless when they did, so she couldn't respond immediately when he began screaming at them "who are you?! And what are you doing on my bridge?!" luckily the Jedi Antares wasn't as winded and did the talking, and perhaps used one of his tricks to exude some confidence into the poor young human. "Captain Neely, I am Jedi Ka'Rin Antares and this is Keona Whitmar" the captain still on edge abruptly cut him off "are you the ones who killed the Imperial team?!"

"I'm afraid so yes." suddenly the First Officer, a portly human with a nametag that read Anders in basic spoke up "stop being the hero for once! You're going to get us killed!"

"Captain what's the meaning of this?" the Jedi asked his calm demeanor beginning to slightly ruffle. "We had a deal with this Admiral Saracco that if we let him take back an Imperial defector he wouldn't space us! Now he's sending an entire squadron…look I appreciate your position Master Jedi but what are you asking of me?" he said gesturing with his eyes to the chaos around them. Ka'Rin Antares who had been waiting patiently put his hand on the back of the woman next to Azi and coaxed her forward "Captain Neely, this is Keona Whitmar." the unorthodox introduction eliciting an impatient nod from Neely and a sigh from Anders who turned back to the view port. Undeterred Antares continued "she is an SIS operative who has been working undercover on Ziost for the last two years. She has information vital to Republic security, which also proves the Empire's direct violation of the Treaty of Coruscant" he finished before adding "and I should not have to tell you that she must not be allowed to fall into their hands". Neely said nothing but looked at Jedi as if to say how could he ask this of his crew. Seeing the same thing Azi had he continued "I understand you are not soldiers, and maybe you have no real loyalty to the Republic, but you must have a desire to see a continued peace, if even for just your continued career" The Captain gave him another helpless look before saying "What do you expect us to do?" without hesitation he answered "I want you to begin evasive maneuvers while we defend from boarding parties. I was able to get a secure comm through to the Republic fleet at Commenor in the next system". Even more frustrated now Captain Neely practically screamed "Commenor!? They won't be here for hours!" for the first time Ka'Rin Antares showed a little frustration himself as he closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye "wrong" he almost hissed "they were just over an hour away but since I commed them almost an hour ago they will be here in a matter of minutes we just need to hold on". Still more confused than relived the Captain said "but how? They only appeared…" and he let the question hang unfinished the Jedi's reputation for being seers and mystics that could glimpse into the future well known throughout the galaxy. Antares filled the void of silence "Captain?" getting his attention "now" he added. Finally something like resolve or at least acceptance filled his features as he began barking out orders to his pilots and navigators around him. The _Esseles_ immediately began such a sharp dive forward and underneath the Imperial destroyer that the inertial compensators whined and struggled to counter balance the effects of gravity. While still holding on to anything around them the holo of the now slightly amused looking Imperial captain re-appeared which meant they had a tap into the ships comms "Neely what do you think you're doing?" he said still not worried that the situation was getting away from him "did we or did we not just finish coming to a beneficial arrangement?" Neely steadied himself before saying "yeah the deal is off…new info-"

"-no the deal is still on" the portly first officer Anders said pulling his sidearm and pointing it at Neely "you're going to get us killed over some misguided patriotism? I don't think so" the fat man said smugly before his blaster shot from his hand into the outstretched hand of Jedi Antares, who promptly tucked it beneath his robes. Not waiting for direction both Azi and Corso pulled their blasters and aimed them at First Officer Anders, who was still staring at his empty hand. "-so…yeah…deals off sorry" Neely concluded looking around for assurances as he said it. "Then you will all die" the Admiral said his earlier amusement gone as Azi tried to punch off the holo to no avail before the ghostly figure disappeared on his own. "Very good Captain. Now we will deal with the boarders but we need you to comm security and tell them to enter defensive position outside all access corridors" Captain Neely nodded and then activated the ships PA while Ka'Rin Antares turned to the bridge crew "for anyone else thinking about mutiny against your Captain, I have spoken with the Republic and reinforcements will be here in minutes I assure you. We just have to-" a Rodian navigator stood up and said in heavily accented basic "we are with you Master Jedi. We will do what we must". Azi could see the makings of a smile tug at the corners of the stoic Jedi's mouth as they ran for the turbo lift. By the time they reached the central corridor they could hear the sounds of blaster fire coming from the port and starboard corridors to either side of them. They needed to get to the small hangar bay at the back of the ship, so they decided to keep following the main corridor. Moving quickly but cautiously they were halfway down the ships spine when four shock troopers entered the main hall from a port corridor. Having the Jedi proved to be more than a good omen as he sensed their arrival and commanded Azi and Corso with Keona to take cover in opposite doorways while he performed an impossible jump to grip the overhead light fixture which no normal being had the finger power to hold on to like he did. Again Azi kept it to herself that she felt she got some sense of the danger approaching. The cover gave them the drop on the troopers who entered the hallway and immediately let their blaster rifles drop from their shoulders when they saw it clear, which is when Azi and Corso peeked around the small corridor depressions they were using for cover and opened fire. Only one of the troopers ever got a shot off and it was just one that shot down the center of the corridor before deflecting off the side wall and dissipating. Content with their marksmanship Azi and Corso began to move down the corridor again before Antares released one of his hands to point back to their cover before whispering intensely "back! Now!" The three non-Force users did as instructed but what next entered the corridor from the port connector was no trooper. He was a tall well-built human wearing red body armor covered by an expensive black and red robe. His face was deathly pale for his species and his yellow and red Nexu like eyes sent chills down Azi's spine. Those eyes seemed to look right at her as if he had no problem seeing through walls, just then the obsidian cylinder in his right hand extended two more feet into a blood red energy blade and she knew it was a Sith. Like most citizens of the Republic she knew little about them, only that they had some connection to the Jedi and that they led the Empire. Azi looked across the hall to Corso who slowly shook his head as she looked to see the Jedi let go of her perch and land in this monster's path just meters away "ah Jedi" the Sith said with a sadistic smile "I could barely sense your feeble presence in the force" Ka'Rin Antares ignited her own yellow blade and said "I had no problem sensing you Sith, I just had to feel for the absence of life, the void in the force" without further provocation the Sith attacked, a lightning quick series of parries and thrusts, each blocked by the Jedi. The fight continued in this fashion with the Sith the aggressor and the Jedi struggling to block his powerful attack for another minute down towards Azi's cover. No matter how close they moved, they were so fast it was nearly impossible for Azi to get a clear look for a shot, the few she managed to get off were deflected by the Sith's blade seemingly without his effort or acknowledgment he was being shot at. Just a few meters away Azi could hear Ka'Rin yell out "back! All of you!" before the Sith unleashed a torrent of electricity at Corso, who ducked his head behind the vestibule column before it was blown away leaving only charring. That was enough of a display for all three and turning to run the twenty or so meters to the next set of staterooms Azi saw Imperial commandos entering the main corridor from both sides of the ship. Stuck without cover Azi, Corso, and Keona could only stand their ground. Azi looked back to see Ka'Rin Antares lose the tip of one his head tails as he mostly ducked under the crimson blade and swept the legs of the Sith out from under him, bringing his own blade down through the armor and torso of the knocked down Sith, who could only look at the Jedi with what appeared to be disbelief as the Jedi retracted his yellow blade from the Sith's chest. Azi couldn't be sure but she thought she saw the Jedi close the Sith's eyes with his hand before rising to deflect the oncoming bolts as the trio restarted their run in the opposite direction to the hangar bay. The group reached the hangar bays door without further incident, and got confirmation that the bridge had not yet been breached since it opened on command. Entering the bay Azi wondered where they would land a shuttle in here since neither shuttle had been launched. Maybe she should've asked but something else was weighing on her "Jedi Antares?" the Iktochi looked at Azi, the bottom half of his right head tail lost and cauterized by the same weapon " how did you win?" worried about how that sounded she quickly amended "I mean no disrespect, it's just…It looked like you were losing" the Jedi really did smile fully this time "that's because I was losing" he let that sink in before adding "In my Order we're taught to pity the Sith in that they'll never know or see the good in sentient beings, but we're always taught to respect their power. In stark contrast the Sith are taught to pity our ideology and our power. This leads them into battle over-confident, I simply exploited this" before Azi could respond Corso let out a loud whoop " The cavalry is here" and she looked as the bow of a Republic cruiser passed in front of the magnetic barrier to the hangar. "Finally" Keona breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to hug her protector. Breaking the hug he said "Very good". The shuttle will be here momentarily, take up defensive positions against the hangar door just in case". Azi could hear the deafening explosion coming from inside the _Esseles_ corridors and could feel the vibrations from the ship to ship battle happening outside the magnetic displacement field. A minute later she heard Keona say "there it is!" Azi glanced over her shoulder to see the conical nose, dorsal and pectoral wings of a Karras-class Republic shuttle. Still watching its approach Azi heard the telltale hiss of a cutting torch from behind her. Cursing the timing of the universe she readied herself for the assault she knew was coming once the shower of sparks stopped. A moment later they did and the door fell away to a plume of smoke and the red bolts of Imperial blaster rifles which cut through the smoke like a light show at the concert of one of Azi's favorite bands. Their numbers were overwhelming which Azi knew to mean the battle for the _Esseles_ was over. Given the length of time since they ran from the bridge turbo lift she knew the ship's security team had put up a valiant defense but in the end a private security unit was no match for the battle hardened troopers of the Empire. The sound of a dozen or more blasters firing in unison was deafening and Azi realized she was really firing blind as the smoke from the cutting torch and the ionized smoke from the blasters had clouded the hangar and the entrance where she felt most of the firing was coming from. Just then a hand gripped her shoulder firmly and she swung the blaster in her left arm to fire at the Imperial that was manhandling her when she saw the Jedi's calm face staring at hers. "Go" he was saying over the din of noise, _go where? _Azi thought as she looked past Ka'Rin to the shuttle hovering a meter off the hangar floor behind them. Thoughts registering now she nodded and began moving in a low crouch for the shuttle. She was pulled into the waiting shuttle by Corso and saw Keona ducking beneath the back bench as the shuttle started to move sideways out of the hangar "where's Ka'Rin!" Azi yelled to Corso, looking behind her as she climbed in, who just pointed past her. Laying on the shuttle floor Azi turned over to look back into the receding hangar to see the Jedi standing in front of the wall of smoke deflecting bolts from every angle with now two yellow blades, one smaller than the other. The Iktochi spared a quick glance back to watch the shuttle clear the magnetic barrier before raising both blades and charging, disappearing into wisps of smoke. Azi, with help from Corso slid back to lean against the wall as the shuttle cleared the magnetic barrier and lurched forward. Looking at Corso and Keona she knew she would never doubt the holovids she saw about the Jedi again.

**Ch. 9**

Kai-Kwon awoke with a start, from a dream he was sure would plague him for the day. In it he couldn't form the words to respond to Bengel Morrs' argument about the corruption of the Order, instead choosing to join him in the dark, striking down his mentor. Dark side nightmares were fairly common for Jedi, especially younger ones. As common as nightmares of programming hyper jump coordinates into an asteroid field were for freighter captains, he had heard anyway. However, this was Kai-Kwon's first real encounter with the dark side. Which made this nightmare especially vivid and terrifying. It took him a brief moment after waking to remember what had actually transpired last night, and that he hadn't killed his former master. All of this made him a few minutes late arriving at the door to the High Council chamber. The security and interface droids opened the door for him and he walked in to see ten of the same Masters from last night, only this time joined by Master Din. The two, Masters Cometa and Kwiiks were still present by holo image only. Kai-Kwon bowed formally and greeted the Council, he could feel a different level of tension in the room this morning. Grand Master Shan spoke first as formality dictated "first Jedi Deo, we all want to convey our pride in your handling of this situation. Not only did you rescue Master Din, but you did it without loss of life which is even more commendable in our eyes. Jedi Morr is not speaking but we keep hope that he will turn back to the light. You have given him that chance and whether he returns to the Order one day, or is lost to us forever, it's something you should take great pride in as well". No amount of training in humility could keep Kai-Kwon's chest from swelling at the Grand Master's recitation of his deeds, but in the back of his mind he could hear the faint whisper of Bengel Morr, _they applaud you for letting a dangerous and sworn enemy live to maybe escape and attack again…weakness. _He blocked it out confident that he had done the right thing, and that this Order represented all that was right in the galaxy. Kai-Kwon locked eyes with the bruised but vibrant Orgus Din who peered at him over steepled fingers as if he was peering into his soul and reading these secret thoughts. Lost in thought he barely heard Master Shan finish speaking. He quickly looked from Master Din to the Grand Master and said "thank you Masters but I only did my duty" he said and realized he wasn't simply reciting the humble pledge of thanks, but really felt that way. Just then Master Cote, an older Iridorian Zabrak male spoke "yes well now we have that out of way we can get on to pressing matters" Kai-Kwon had never trained under Dirin Cote but knew of his reputation for speaking plainly and not caring for formalities "Master Din was able to overhear Bengel Morr's communication with a conspirator about advancing their plan. Trying to trace the comm transmission was futile as the signal was bounced but Master Din has been able to recall more fragments of the conversation-"

"-I heard Coruscant. Thank you Master Cote but I'm in full possession of my faculties" he said lightheartedly to his overprotective friend. Kai-Kwon whispered "Corsuscant" he continued "we took this to maybe mean a coordinated attack on the Republic and began consulting with the SIS late last night. Unfortunately no attack has been launched and there has been no raise in chatter from monitored Imperial communications" Some of the seated Masters began looking pensive as they shifted into gestures of deep thought. The other holo image showing the middle aged Togruta female Jedi Bella Kwiiks came to life, as the beautiful woman with the soft face leaned in to her cam "but we are not without leads" she said and paused to let her news sink in, as the pensive masters all turned to her image "A Dr. Adamar, the chief scientist on a top secret weapons project, was taken from his apartment in the middle of the night. His room was ransacked but all that is missing is him and his work issued datapad. We also got word a short time ago that the five other principle members of his team were also abducted from their own living quarters in the same _secure _building" the Jedi Master said in a very measured voice. "Which weapons project?" said the Arkannian Master Arca Jeth. The near human with the long white hair and all white eyes of his species was a longtime Master who had been fighting the Sith since the outbreak of war over fifty years ago, he rarely spoke but when he did his voice commanded everyone to listen. Master Kwiiks looked to the Arkannian with obvious respect "it's the Desolator Master Jeth". If the room could get more silent, it did with that pronouncement. After what seemed like an eternity of confusion for Kai-Kwon, Grand Master Shan finally broke the silence "very good Masters, Master Kwiiks I'm sending you're former Padawan along with Jedi Deo who may have initiated this move by disrupting their plans here in Tython. Prepare for their arrival". Both Master Kwiiks and Cometa nodded but did not speak before deactivating their holo cam. Standing up Satele Shan walked up the steps to Kai-Kwon. More formal this time with her hands clasped behind her she said "Jedi Deo and Jedi Carson" Kai-Kwon actually had to turn around completely to see the diminutive Jedi standing behind him. He had been so enthralled by the briefing he had not even felt her presence when she entered, "you will take a Defender to Coruscant where you will meet with General Var-Suthra. He is the overseer of the Desolator Project. This is of vital importance to the Republic that this Dr. Adamar is found and his abductors stopped before they can deliver the stolen information". Kira now stepped up to Kai-Kwon's shoulder as both Jedi answered "Yes Master" prompting Kai-Kwon to regain his position in front of Kira before asking "Grand Master, can I ask what this weapon is?" she spun back down the steps and punched a series of buttons on the holo table, this time bringing up indecipherable schematics.

"It's a siege weapon. Designed to keep a planet's population from leaving the planet. It has been endlessly debated in secret sessions, but the Republic continued its development against the recommendation of our Order. That is why what I ask of you now you will not share with General Var-Suthra or anyone else outside this Council" both Jedi briefly looked at each other before turning their complete attention back to the Grand Master before them "if you have the opportunity… I want you to destroy the plans for the Desolator" Kai-Kwon swallowed audibly as the gravity of this task hit him. He noticed none of the other Masters, including Orgus Din, registered no emotion, meaning this had been a topic before they reported in this morning. "How far do we take this?" Kira asked, again stepping up beside Kai-Kwon. "Only if you have a clear opportunity. Of course you will not steal it or threaten anyone to get it, but if you have the chance we feel" she said sweeping her arm around the room "that in this case it's better to ask forgiveness than permission".

Neither Kai-Kwon nor Kira had said much as they readied and boarded Jedi Defender X-05 to Coruscant. Kai didn't really know what to say or where to start. He had just been tasked with the most important mission of his young career, and he had been paired with the one Jedi he had been chastised for beginning a romantic relationship with as a Padawan. It wasn't that fraternization among Padawans was a novel occurrence, but since Kira was two years older and had been on the verge of taking her trials before they had been caught and reprimanded, her punishment was more severe, and she had never forgiven Kai-Kwon for what she saw as his persistent seduction. In fact they hadn't spoken beyond a perfunctory congratulations to each other at the removal of their Padawan braid. It didn't help Kai's concentration any that Kira had only become more beautiful since their brief tryst. She still wore her vibrant red hair short, with a stylish braid instead of a traditional one opposite the part. As they called out pre-flight checks both ignoring the 800 pound Bantha in the room with them, Kai-Kwon could only think _If Bengel Morr was right about anything, it was that the logic of the Council doesn't always make immediate sense. I mean were they testing us? Did they regret that our punishment had driven a wedge between two Jedi who had been inseparable since they were younglings? If so, then why do this now? _Kai-Kwon chastised himself for already letting himself get distracted as Kira had to call out a check for rear stabilizers twice. As Kai toggled the switches he called out "good" and then looked over at his former friend with an apologetic look, she didn't meet his eyes, only swung back to her own console, and for the briefest of seconds Kai-Kwon wondered if he should've take Bengel Morr up on his offer.

The normally quick four hour trip to Coruscant felt like fourteen hours as they traveled in silence. Twice Kai had tried to break the silence with pertinent questions about their mission only to receive abrupt one word answers. Breaking through the cloud bank on Coruscant never failed to leave Kai breathless. He marveled at the Coruscanti ability to persevere and get on with life. Since the outbreak of the Mandalorian War three centuries ago, the galaxy had known little peace. Still, as they descended to the continent sized city in the mid-morning light of Avenas, the standard day smack in the middle of the work week, he saw the skylanes as busy as ever. Citizens on their way to work or running errands, life always went on. As they descended to the large port connected to Republic Defense Command, a spaceport usually reserved for large cruisers, the personal ships of high ranking fleet officers, or Jedi. Kai-Kwon could now see presumably Master Bela Kwiiks and Cal Cometa waiting at the landing pad, with hoods up and hands tucked into opposite sleeves. With Defense Command right in the heart of the governmental sector, it was close enough to civilian traffic lanes to be considered public. Normally Jedi were taught to walk through public areas with their hoods up as an identity safeguard. The Council never wanted individual Jedi to become holo posters on the bedroom walls of children across the Republic. In the end the hood and anonymity it brought was done in the name of humility. But the 3rd Amelioration of the Republic Constitution, which guaranteed a free press, also made them relentless, and anonymity for individual Jedi was getting harder to safeguard. Descending the ramp Kai-Kwon saw Kira's old master Bela Kiiwks, a Togruta Sentinel, and Cal Cometa, a Human Guardian blade master from Alderran, approach. The four Jedi exchanged greetings under the mid-morning light and passing traffic before being told to follow the two masters inside. Kai-Kwon had a brief compulsion to ask why he and Kira were given this assignment, but the demeanor of the two Council members told him now was not the time. All four Jedi removed their hoods as they passed four security officers inside the building. Walking behind Master Cometa through the gleaming white corridors of the command center, the four arrived at a larger than normal office door. The uniformed guards on either side of the door side stepped in military fashion and snapped a crisp salute. Even though the treaty had officially ended the Jedi's rank as Generals of the Republic Army, they were still saluted by almost everyone in uniform, and had given up long ago telling them it was unnecessary. Entering the office, Kai felt like he had walked into a broiler without the heat. The amphibious Mon Calamari kept artificial humidity at 100%, making it hard to take for some mammals. But while this environment humidity was simply uncomfortable for Kai-Kwon, anything less could prove fatal to the General, so it was endured without complaint. General Kal Var-Suthra stood with his three-digited hands clasped behind him as the Jedi entered while a human female Kai was vaguely familiar with and two uniformed officers, one a human male, the other a male Rodian stood to the side. "General Var-Suthra" Master Kwiiks said stopping with a short bow "allow me to introduce my former Padawan, now Knight Kira Carson" she said as all four bowed their heads by way of greeting, Kira giving a more formal, fuller bow. "and Jedi Kai-Kwon Deo, who we have to thank for ferreting out this plot" after pausing for more bows she continued "Jedi this is General Kal Var-Suthra, Senator Mon Darsh of Commenor and Chairperson of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Col. Javian Praxis of Republic Special Forces, and Maj. Tee Tardonomeedo of Strategic Intelligence Services" she gestured to each one in turn as both Jedi nodded individual greetings to each. "We're very glad to have you here" Gen. Var-Suthra began in his wet gravelly voice. "This situation could spiral out of control very quickly if we do not find Dr. Adamar and his team as quickly as possible" he said walking out from behind his desk towards the circular holo table in the center of the office. Activating it to show a diagram of Corsuscant itself before zooming in "Maj. Tardonomeedo has an asset in the Crimson Corridor here" he said using a laser pointer to indicate the exact location he meant "who heard from witnesses that saw Black Sun operatives returning to a known hideout here" again indicating a different specific location "with a group of obvious captives. The species and descriptions all matching our missing science team" he said returning his pointer to the breast pocket of his blue and grey uniform, and turning back to the Jedi "How do we know they haven't left the planet yet? It's been nearly twenty four hours" this from the middle aged female Senator "we don't Senator, but we've had all spaceports; large public and small private watched since the abductions were reported. We will have to hope they haven't slipped the net" the Mon Calamari said before turning to the Jedi again "since we have all four of you here, I don't believe you need a commando unit to join you?" but Master Kwiiks quickly waved away the unintended vanity padding "Have them set up here and here" the Togruta said using her finger to point to the two resi-blocks on either side of the Black Sun hideout. "Very good. Col. Praxis?" the large human with short trimmed grayish black hair stepped forward "I'll have my best unit meet you at the shuttle bay Master Jedi" he said quickly stepping back into his original spot. "As much as it pains me to say, the lives of our scientists have to be second to recovering the technical readouts on the Desolator weapon. This technology could imprison us while the Empire conquers the galaxy around us." When Master Cometa spoke in his low voice everyone turned to listen "this technology is an abomination" he said not able to help himself. Var-Suthra for his part took the Jedi Masters lamentation in stride "yes…well, all the more reason to not let it get to the Dark Council. May the Force be with you all".

An hour later the four Jedi were in the Crimson Corridor, one of the most feared and crime ridden districts on Corsucant. There were thousands of crime ridden districts on Coruscant, but what made the Crimson so infamous was that it was one of the only ones close enough to the surface to be bathed in natural light, albeit somewhat sparsely. The Crimson Corridor was home to not only the Black Sun, but the Exchange as well. A human-only criminal syndicate as old as the founding of the Republic. Over the last few centuries, the Exchange with their stringent membership qualifications, and their choice to stay out of death stick and Ryll Spice dealing, had ceded a lot of power to the Black Sun. The lower you went in the district, the gangs would get smaller, but also more violent. Like any slum, the Crimson Corridor started out as a subsidized housing district for low income families, and essentially it still was. The sons and daughters of these poor working class families, mired in generational poverty and hopelessness, dreamed of a better life…and in the slums of Corsucant there was only one easy way to rise out of poverty, crime. In contrast to the Exchange, which had been founded by the noble sons of the core ostensibly as a shipping concern which grew into the leading purveyor of illegal gambling, prostitution, and racketeering, throughout the galaxy, The Black Sun was founded by aliens, the sons and daughters of the dominated and displaced. It was always a criminal venture, and had no qualms about drugs, murder for hire, and any other crime that was considered taboo by other criminal syndicates. But one also had to remember, that like most slums it was a small minority that gave it a violent reputation. The majority of the corridor's residents were good, hard-working people who chose to forgo the easy way out of poverty. Republic wage minimums had done away with the subsidies for anyone who was of sound mind or body to work, so there was a concerted effort among the districts law abiding citizens to "clean up the neighborhood". These beings were all too willing to help the four Jedi, identified by their iconic brown pauper robes. In most districts, the sight of four Jedi climbing out of a C-Sec Special Tactics Unit armored speeder, flanked by an armored STU team would be cause for a scene, but most of the Crimson residents paid no attention to the dozen beings moving with purpose down the center of the pedway. The streets were lined by a myriad of businesses, all beckoning customers with cheap but tacky adverts, and bright lights. A tan furred Bothan male approached the group from the front portico of one of these stores with his hands splayed out in front of him, palms out, showing his lack of weapon or ill intentions. "They went that way Jedi" he said in hushed conspiratorial tones, while conspicuously nodding in the direction they were already headed. Still Master Kwiiks made him feel as though his contribution was integral to the safety of the Republic "thank you citizen, we will head that way" she said as the Bothan nodded with chest slightly more swollen, maybe thinking he had done his small part to add to the legacy of Bothan spy craft. Another kilometer down the pedway they were on dead ended into a relatively ostentatious building with adjoining pedways going right and left. Also unlike their rivals in the Exchange, the Black Sun did nothing to hide their presence or affiliation with crime, and that collective ego helped the Jedi now as the four story ornate building ahead came equipped with white banners emblazoned with the syndicate's emblem on either side of the front door. The emblem was a small black circle within a larger thin circle open at the very top, the outer circle had fifteen points, or sun rays, one for each Vigo, or sector boss. At the top of the unfinished sphere was the sixteenth, and longest sun ray, representative of the Prime Vigo. The Prime Vigo at this time was a Togorian named Salarr. The son of Tan Salarr, the brutal leader who had cemented Black Sun as the pre-imminent crime family, and taken them from a colonial force to a galactic force felt throughout the core worlds. The large cat like Togorian Salarr the younger apparently lacked the drive and initiative of his infamous father, and seemed complacent with his organizations attained status. Enough so that he supposedly spent most of his time chasing the Zillo, a euphemism for deathstick addiction and it's impossible journey to regain that initial high. Entering the pre-assigned meeting place in a vacant apartment in the resi-block diagonal to the front of the expensive looking and out of place building, Master Cometa spoke into his comm to Sargent Jorus Nidaljo, who was on the roof of the building with his STU sniper, Corporal Ondara, "Sargent, any confirmation yet?"

"Wait one-" they heard after the short static burst that signaled an incoming communication. That was followed shortly by "yes Master Cometa, we have five bio signatures in what appears to be the top floor."

"That might ma-" he was interrupted by Nidaljo.

"Hold Master, we have the signatures of the support staff, but no Dr. Adamar. I repeat we do not have confirmation on Dr. Adamar".

"Could they have separated him?" he asked but with a look that said he already knew the answer. Nidaljo would have scanned the entire building before making his initial assessment.

"Negative Master. The rest of the signatures are all non-Republic personnel." Looking resigned he answered "very well. Any suggestions for infiltration?" There was a slight hesitation before replying and Kai'Kwon thought the young CSF Sergeant must have been taken aback at being asked for operational input by a member of the Jedi High Council. "..Y-yes Master. I recommend half the team entering at the top floor and working its way down, while the other half enters thirty seconds later through the front door. Team-1 should have flushed all targets down to the first floor before tea-"

"Yes Sgt. I like it. Very good. Master Kwiiks?" the Togruta stepped forward "how do you feel about leading your former Padawan, Private Zoras, and Cpl. Ondara on team one?" the beautiful red, blue and white Master bowed modestly "of course Master" with that Kira and the young winged reptilian Vor fell in behind her "and Sgt. Nidaljo, you and I will lead Jedi Deo, Pvt. Vookta, and Pvt. Kostu through the front" turning to the room but still talking into the comm he said "ten minutes everyone" before returning his comm to his belt. Exactly ten minutes later Kai-Kwon watched as Private Zoras used his evolutionary advantage to fly up to one of the three balconies that lined the buildings top floor. Picking the only one with a guard, the Vor quickly incapacitated the Trandoshan lookout with a blaster bolt to the head before landing and giving the all clear to the other members of team one, who darted out from the lobby of the resiblock, and quickly launched their grappling hooks up to the balcony. Half a minute later they were all inside while Kai-Kwon and team two had moved downstairs and began crossing the now quickly emptying pedway, as beings sensed approaching violence and their survival instinct was yelling for them to get clear. Approaching the large durasteel door, Kai-Kwon could hear the shouts of what he hoped were Black Sun members, followed by the quiet staccato of repeating blasters. Cal Cometa beckoned for Kai-Kwon to join him in front of the door and he quickly realized his intentions. He began willing the force from his mind to his chest, and finally to his arms where he began collecting it into a massive ball he could feel between his hands. It would be a force push powerful enough to shatter the bones of any organic unlucky enough to be in front of it. Just before releasing the violent storm of energy though, he could feel a blast of cold air and hear the blaster shots more clearly, he opened his eyes to see the front door opening inward. Both he and Cal looked to their right to see Viper team's Duros slicer disconnecting his kit from the doors control pad. Seeing the two Jedi staring at him he offered a sheepish grin before readying his blaster, which Kai-Kwon returned. The more stoic Master Jedi simply gave the silent order to move as he and Kai allowed the Force energy to harmlessly dissipate. Moving into the wide open foyer they could see that Captain Nidaljo's plan had worked almost flawlessly. The six remaining defenders had all taken up positions at the base of the central staircase, firing back upstairs at team one. Almost flawless because he could see an injured Pvt. Zoras being dragged out of sight upstairs as they entered. The defenders were caught completely unaware. They didn't even turn to see the new threat team two posed until a Gotal fighting by their side lurched forward with a gaping blaster wound to the back of his skull. In unison four of the remaining five turned, but it was too late, Master Cometa force leapt to a meter in front of them, his blue blade twirling as heads and limbs were thrown from the center of the engagement like some macabre spinning top they used to pass out candy to children at the Coruscanti Circus. Kai turned to see a true challenger rushing towards him in the form of a Zabrak sporting a Zhabako, the traditional double sided blade staff used by his people for many millennia. The Zabrak's attack pushed Kai back into the foyer. He was well trained in Teras-Kasi and maybe a little force sensitive, but his anger caused him to over swing, and when he did Kai simply side stepped the blade, using his saber to push the blade further to the left than it was meant to go, he then brought his own blade up in a horizontal position, and let the Zabraks momentum carry his midsection across the superheated plasma, spilling entrails on the marble floor as he fell past him. By the time he rejoined the action near the staircase it was over. The final three defenders had surrendered and were bound by wrist and ankle and sitting against a wall in the hallway leading to the back of the estate. He glanced up to see Cpl. Ondara carrying the wounded Pvt. Zoras over his shoulder, followed by Master Kwiiks and Kira Carson leading the shaken and injured science team, each of which nodded or whispered thanks to him as they passed by. Master Kwiiks stopped at the base of the stairs and turned to Master Cometa "I've already commed command. They are sending a shuttle for us and the wounded, and CSF is sending a prison transport for them" she said indicating the three prisoners without emotion, adrenaline from the battle already gone. "They want us to get all the information that we can out of them bef-"

"you mean about the one who escaped?" They all turned to view the source of the outburst, the lone human sitting against a wall, whose compatriots, a Rodian and a small Chadra-Fan looked at with disgust, before the small sentient rodent cursed and launched a wad of saliva that landed on the human's cheek. Another upside to dealing with Black Sun over the Exchange was loyalty. Due to the Exchanges stringent recruiting policy, they commanded a nearly impenetrable vow of silence in their ranks, whereas low ranking Black Sun members were known for rolling on the organization for the slightest reduction in punishment. Kai-Kwon silently thanked the Force as he watched the human wipe his cheek with his shoulder and then begin the awkward hop slide of a manacled prisoner as he put some distance between himself and his former comrades. Cal approached, standing just off his toes "speak" he said in a commanding voice. Cal Cometa was a compassionate Jedi and would gladly give his life for a single innocent life that many beings would write off as inconsequential, but he didn't suffer fools or those who had made a conscience decision to forsake the light. Cal was one of the few survivors from the attack on the Temple twenty-five years ago. A young Knight at the time he had been right behind his former master, Ven Zallow, when they met Darth Malgus that day before the shuttle crash and all hell broke loose. He had killed many Sith that day, and many believed him to be on a perpetual mission of vengeance. Some believed he walked dangerously close to the Dark side, while others believed him to be a balanced Jedi committed to the Light. He was Kai-Kwon's kind of Jedi. "he-he escaped on the way here" the wide eyed prisoner said looking at the towering warrior. "How? Where?" he barked even more intensely.

"I-I'm not sure" he glowered at him and the human quickly began trying to make it up to him "I mean it was on the way here as soon…but before we got in the airspeeder to get back here…they could tell you more" he said indicating two lifeless lumps being dragged down the stairs in body bags by Pvt. Vookta and Kostu. Cal didn't bother to turn taking his meaning. "So still in the governmental district then?"

"Yes" thinking for a moment "yes definitely while we were still there"

"thank you for your cooperation" he said before turning back to Kai-Kwon "so…am I going to get some consi-" Cal turned back to the pleading human and his look told him now was not the time. Getting the quiet he needed, he turned back to the three Jedi "Master Kwiiks and I will go back to Defense Command with the Science team and report what we've learned to Var-Suthra and the rest of command, from there we will devise a strategy to track Dr. Adumar. In the meantime though I want you and Jedi Carson to take our airspeeder to the governmental district and begin making a basic sweep pattern. It's a long shot yes but one we have to attempt" Kai-Kwon didn't object to his reasoning and simply bowed slightly before turning to leave with his onetime lover, and now apparent stranger Kira Carson.

**Ch. 10**

Thankfully the rest of the ride to Coruscant had been uneventful for Azi, Corso, and Keona Whitmar. The rescue shuttle had taken them from the _Esseles_ to the _Manarai_, the flagship of the Republic Navy's Perlemian Expanse Fleet which had responded to Ka'Rin Antares's emergency comm and chased the Imperial dreadnaught _Conquest _away. The _Manarai _was named after the twin peaks that overlooked the galactic capital, and was a behemoth of engineering that the three had gotten a brief tour of while waiting for Keona's SIS clearance to go through. Once it had they were put on the _Kessa, _a speedy assault frigate which got them to Coruscant hours ahead of their expected arrival aboard the _Esseles, _even with the delays for battle and ship tours. Stepping off the ramp of the _Kessa, _Azi could not close her mouth. The Galactic City Spaceport they had landed at felt bigger than all of the cities she had visited in her time working the expanse. Finding out it was just one of half a dozen inter-galactic spaceports on the planet just added to her amazement. Glancing over to see Corso' eyes flit from one cloudscraper to the next, she was glad to see somebody was as floored as she was. Keona however took it all in stride and had even chuckled a few times at the dusters, as newcomers and first timers were colloquially called around the capital planet. But for Azi, it was more than the simply architectural wonder. To her, this planet represented everything beings could accomplish when united behind a common goal. It had been said that every civilization took its place in the universe for granted, but Coruscant really made her doubt the veracity of that statement. She felt these beings knew they were part of an incredible civilization unique to the known universe. Hyperspace travel could not yet take us to different galaxies, since routes needed to be navigated at near light speed before they would be safe for sub space travel. It was a lifetime commitment to be a trailblazer, but the upside was eternal glory. Jasu Hydian, Pax Perlemian, Dan Rimma, all names that were emblazoned into every citizen's mind and the main thoroughfares the galaxy traveled. It's not often that you stop and think about the time and place you're living in, but the twenty minute airspeeder ride to Republic Defense Command made Azi appreciate for the first time, the civilization she was a part of. By the time they arrived at their destination, the building just seemed ho-hum. A giant in its own right, it was as long and wide as many of the tallest monads were high, but in the traditional utilitarian architecture of the military, with its octagonal shape and flat roof, it didn't have the same aesthetic appeal as the sloped roofs and rounded off corners of classical core architecture, but it was impressive in its own way. Flying over it, Azi saw that it had its own spaceport, and she briefly wondered why they didn't land there, until she saw it was occupied only by giant Republic cruisers, in the style of the flagship _Manarai_ they had toured yesterday morning. As the speeder began its bank and slow descent to its pre assigned landing pad, Azi could see a uniformed officer waiting along with…two Jedi. Maybe they could've passed without notice a week ago, but after their experience with Ka'Rin Antares, Azi would recognize the uniform anywhere. She imagined that when Keona had transmitted her report before entering atmo that the SIS must've informed the Temple who had members here to take the report of their brethren's heroic demise. As the anti-grav landing repulses ignited, the air wake rippled the robes of the placidly calm looking Jedi, who dropped their hoods as the pilot turned off the ignition. Azi could see the Jedi were male and female, a hard but classically handsome looking human man, and a beautiful red Togruta with their trademark blue and white lekku. As they approached Azi wondered, not for the first time either, about the private lives of these enigmatic wizards. I mean did they have the same desires as the rest of us? The uniformed Rodian approached first "Agent Whitmar" he said, his tubular snout seemed to vibrate the words in basic, extending a four digited hand which Keona accepted adding "Major Tardonomeedo" looking back and waving Azi and Corso forward she said "these are my rescuers; Azi'Tivi Caruna and Corso Riggs" both Azi and Corso exchanged turns shaking hands with the SIS major before the Rodian turned to indicate the Jedi behind him before saying "this is master Cal Cometa of the High Council and Master Bela Kwiiks" again they all exchanged a greeting with the Jedi actually shaking her hand instead of just politely bowing. The Togruta Bela Kwiiks allowed her hand to linger in Azi's just a moment longer than was generally acceptable and Azi briefly wondered why she was the target of scrutiny from these Jedi. She also wondered what could have been so important about their escape to bring a High Council member here, when she realized it could only be due to Keona's information which she had not yet been privy to. "Shall we go inside?" the SIS man asked, and they began heading up the causeway. The quickly approaching sunset beginning to bath the city in an amber glow and Azi paused to burn this image into memory. The Togruta Jedi noticed her absence and turned back to Azi and Corso "I understand you were with Ka'Rin Antares on the _Esseles_?" she asked, her concern evident. Azi nodded solemnly "we were Master Jedi. he gave his life so that we could escape" Azi could see the pain in Bela Kwiiks eyes for just a moment before it was replaced with something like acceptance, and for the second time in as many minutes she wondered if these two may have been more than just comrades. Realizing the possible enormity of her news she said "I had only heard of such bravery in stories until I met Jedi Antares" Master Kwiiks nodded her thanks and smiled politely at Azi's remembrance before quickly turning to rejoin the others walking ahead.

Keona's information was foremost on everyone's mind inside the Mon Calamarian Army General's office, except for Azi and Corso who were waiting outside in the hallway. "What is this urgent data you could not transmit Agent Whitmar" Var-Suthra was saying in his aquatic voice. Keona clasped her hands at the small of her back making it more like a formal debrief "while inside Imperial Command on Dromund Kaas, I discovered a well hidden report, and I have to stress how well hidden this report was; it lay under multiple layers of encryption so deep it took me a week of continual slicing to get at it" Var-Suthra and Tardonomeedo confirmed they understood the gravity of this information before she continued "in it was an operational progress report detailing the Republic's advances on a secret weapons project known as the desolator" most of the room looked a little stunned but Var-Suthra proceeded unfazed "so they had someone close to the project?" waiting till his implication was made before shooting a look that could kill at Maj. Tardonomeedo, whose agency was responsible for keeping Imperial infiltrators out of sensitive areas, and had obviously failed miserably if this was accurate. And given what had happened on Tython in concert with the kidnappings last night, all indications pointed to it being a spot on report. Keona stepped forward still at attention "not close General, on top of. The report was filed by a Dr. Adamar".

"Our chief scientist? You're kidding!" this from the burly spec-ops commander. Var-Suthra turned to Master Cometa "contact your Order, apprise them of this new information-"

"one more thing General" Keona said again calling attention back to her "Adamar is a simple reverse anagram for Ramada, as in Ord Ramada, the battle where Darth Angral cemented his reputation, and the Dark Council member whom the message was intended for." pausing for a moment to let that sink in before continuing "His son and apprentice Darth Tarnis has widely been believed to be on some mission for the past eighteen months since no one has seen him in at least that long." now turning to look directly at Var-Suthra she said "Now you understand why I had to deliver this in person. I could not be sure who else or what other departments were compromised. If they were able to sneak a Sith Lord and the son of one of the leading member of the Dark Council into an S6 clearance program…" If the room was slightly stunned at the news of Dr. Adamar's true identity, it was experiencing a collective heart attack at this revelation. After a moment the room went from dead silent to an eruption of noise as Var-Suthra began yelling at Colonel Praxis to get Viper team ready and Master Cometa was telling Master Kwiiks to comm her former apprentice while he tried to reach Master Shan. Once again Keona stepped forward, this time resting her fingers on the edge of Var-Suthra's desk. "General" he stopped to look at her "is Viper team within five minutes of being ready for mission?" Var-Suthra looked at the Colonel who just shook his closely shaved head, Keona took his silence as an invitation "well we have two contractors we'll call them, waiting outside who just helped fend off a battalion of Imperial commandos led by a Sith Saber. I say we requisition them to go with myself and Master's Cometa and Kwiiks…and we do it now" she said looking to see both Jedi had moved into the anteroom on their comms. Var-Suthra planted his own palms on his desk now "go where Agent Whitmar?"

"I was getting to that" she snapped more testily than she meant, and seeing Var-Suthra's expression let her know that even now she was treading close to insubordination. Before she could correct her mistake Master Kwiiks returned back to the group and said "I cannot raise Jedi Deo or Carson, it's as if their comms are dead. Var-Suthra kept his bulbous but steely eyes on Keona "sorry General. I hadn't finished. The report also stated that Tarnis arrived on Coruscant in a stealth fighter which he hid in the old Temple. That's where he will be headed if he's not already there" Var-Suthra took the news in stride. Simply pressing a comm button and saying "Miss Teery, can you show in Miss Caruna and Mr. Riggs please"

**Ch. 11**

Ironically, maybe the worst topside district on all of Coruscant was a sky ball throw from the governmental district, which is where Kai-Kwon and Kira found themselves, using their eyes, and to a much lesser degree the Force, in their search for Dr. Amadar. The problem with using the force in a search for a non-Force sensitive on Coruscant was that there were so many moments of distress happening at once it became nearly impossible to pinpoint the one distressed being you were searching for. Flying past the Senate rotunda Kai-Kwon looked down into Monuments Plaza and saw only the looks and points of gawking tourists being led by official tour guides…or streetwise kids who knew how to hustle for a credit or two. With still no comm from Cometa, Kwiiks, or Orgus who he knew would be coming to Coruscant to oversee his progress as soon as he was able, the two Jedi had no choice but continuing their search. Looking over at Kira he simply let himself speak before really thinking about it "we used to be great friends", she looked at him as if he had grown a third eye "what?" he just shrugged before looking out his own window "we used to be great friends…before" She looked for a minute as if she was going to return to ignoring him, but then a look of incredulity flashed across her face and she snapped around saying "before what? Before you talked me into breaking the code and forever damaged my standing with the masters?" this brought him to look at the fiery redhead matching her look of confusion and anger "you say that as if I used to Force to twist your mind".

"You did twist my mind!" she said her voice rising in anger "you may not have used the Force but you twisted it none the less, ignoring my rebuffs and warnings that it would end exactly the way it did!" He started his own response which he had been rehearsing in his head almost since their estrangement, but Kira beat him to it "just don't start. Now is most certainly not the time" he thought it best to accept her chastisement without comment and turned to look out the window again "will it ever be THE time?" he let the question go even though he knew she would not answer it and simply sank back into the Force. It could've been that now with the tensions addressed he had an easier time sinking into the Force, because as soon as he had he felt a reverberation. Opening his eyes again he could see that the time dilation of the Force was always present as what had felt like a moment had obviously been more than a few minutes in silence "over there" he said pointing out Kira's window. She immediately banked the sky hopper and he was silently pleased she still trusted his Force sense. He could see the one remaining spire of the old temple on the horizon "you felt something from the Temple? Kira asked. He simply nodded with his eyes closed trying to pinpoint the wave further. The fact that nothing should be coming from the temple made it all the more significant. The Temple had been left in its mostly destroyed state since the attack led by Darth Malgus, with the Treaty specifications that the Jedi leave Coruscant there hadn't been a real reason to rebuild…yet anyway. With the Temple in view now he could see the damage in the form of collapsed duracrete throughout the structure. To the Jedi the attack by Malgus represented a coward's tactic, calling for parley and then ambushing the handful of Jedi that had been left behind, but to the Sith it was a stroke of genius which catapulted Malgus into legendary territory among his brethren. Flying in low, Kai saw the target of his Force senses immediately in the form of a lone human in what looked like black and red under armor sprinting across the temple's side courtyard. He went to indicate but Kira said "I see him". She hit the switch that opened the roof of the enclosed speeder and angled down to land in front of what looked like the image they had of Dr. Adamar. Jumping out of the speeder Kai-Kwon saw the Doctor slow to a stop in front of him. "Jedi? Oh thank the Force" the Doctor said looking up to the sky above in a thanking gesture and rushing forth to grab him by the wrist before dropping to a knee before him. Kai-Kwon decided now was not the time to explain that the Force did not necessarily reside in the sky, instead saying "Dr. Adamar? What are you doing here?" the Doctor looked up to him and Kira who had now rounded the front of the speeder "I had security cams at my residence so I had a few minutes while they overpowered my protection. In that time I was able to enact my security code, which was a pre-established security protocol that would see my data delivered here by my hover droid" rising to his feet and grabbing Kira by the wrist as well he said "come. This way" as he pulled them with him. The story was told with such confidence that Kai-Kwon never really doubted its veracity and couldn't detect any deception through the Force, so he simply agreed to escort Adamar in to retrieve his hidden data in the desolator.

Walking through the Temple was bittersweet for Kai as he imagined it would be for all Jedi. He imagined it would be felt worse by the Masters like Orgus and Kwiiks who had grown up and trained as younglings here. Even worse for Master Cometa who had been here to see its ruin. The interior of the Temple had been unchanged since the attack, and apart from the carbon scoring and light saber scarring on the walls it still looked beautiful. Imported marble and bronzed statues. Many citizens of the Republic were under the mistaken impression that they paid for the Jedi Temple when actually the Jedi had amassed a fortune during the dawn of the Republic on Tython. When they made the decision to eschew balance and walk in the light they used most of their collected fortune on charitable foundations, the rest was used as an operational fund. They had walked through the great foyer which is where the main battle had taken place that fated day twenty-five years ago, and where Malgus had killed the lone Council member who had been left here, Ven Zallow. By all accounts from survivors like Cal Cometa and holocams that had recorded pieces of the battle, Master Zallow had fought bravely, and was posthumously remembered in the Order's Hall of Archives. All the slain Jedi and the security personnel who had fought to the death that day were recognized by a simple marble plaque at the front entrance. Adamar had said the data would've been left in the transceiver room, where the Jedi communicated with Knights positioned throughout the galaxy. The chief scientist on the other hand seemed like a man on a mission, moving so briskly it could barely be considered a walk, while brushing off every question Kai-Kwon and Kira had for him about his escape with simple one or two word replies. He seemed to have no interest in his surroundings, which he initially wondered about since most civilians seemed to hold the Jedi up as superheroes of a sort, and made repeated attempts to enter the building over the years but had been denied. Kai felt guilty over the arrogance in questioning Dr. Adamar's lack of reverence as suspicious and quickly discarded it in favor of the idea of a petrified civilian who simply wanted his long ordeal to be over and done with. Kai gazed up at the giant bronzium statue of Revan on one side of the staircase, and Bastila Shan on the other, and thought of the two heroic Jedi from centuries past. Revan had fallen to the dark side during the Mandalorian Wars and had been captured by Bastila Shan in the Battle of Taris. The Council had a powerful master at the time who was able to wipe Revan's memory of his past, and he was retrained as a Jedi on Dantooine before teaming with Bastila and a few other non-Jedi who are now all regarded as heroes of the Republic, to end Darth Malak's reign of terror. Revan and Bastila had fallen in love during what became known as the Jedi Civil War, and had went on to co-chair the High Council while being bonded for life and having two children. That lineage passed down directly to the current chair of the high council in Satele Shan. The image of the two bronzium statues whose arms created an arch over the staircase coming together at the zenith as their index fingers touched, gave Kai hope for his future with Kira, he felt he could be content with rekindling the close friendship they had as younglings, even if her romantic love was denied to him….denied. The word stuck in Kai's head as they entered the semi-circular hallway that led to the galactic transciever and holocom. As Dr. Adamar approached the large and powerful comm system and began typing in commands it hit him. All the civilians who had attempted to enter the Temple over the years had been denied. Every entrance in to the Temple that a being could fit through could only be accessed by telekinetically lifting a barrier. "Dr. Adamar? How would you have entered the Temple had we not found you?" It was exactly what Kai-Kwon was thinking but he had not uttered the words, he looked at Kira who had already peeled her robe from her hip with one hand, her other hand undoubtedly grasping the light saber hilt dangling off her hip. Still processing where this was going he heard a cruel laugh that came from the front of the room. He looked to see as Dr. Adamar took a knee in front of a large image of…Darth Angral. The Sith Lord's shock of white hair along with one cybernetic eye to replace the one he lost to Durek Bandai in the beginning of the war. Three light sabers activated within moments of each other and Kira called out "my comms not working!" Kai looked down at this wrist briefly and tried to activate his own…nothing. He then remembered Dr. Adamar, or more accurately the imposter, grabbing his wrist…and comlink when they first found him. "They won't work. He fried them. We'll have to do this together" he emphasized the final word and Kira nodded emphatically. "Lord Tarnis" the hologram spoke "tell me you have the data" risen from one knee and with his red blade burning Tarnis answered "yes father".

"Good" Angral drew the word out as he steepled his hands together at his chin "dispose of these whelps. We will talk about your failure to leave unnoticed afterwards".

"Yes father. I will only be a moment". Before he could finish Kai-Kwon looked to Kira and said "remember training together Kira. We were a single weapon once before" he said bringing his blade to the right side of his body, hilt gripped in both hands into the attack minded Ataru starting form. Kira's mastery of Shien would do her no good here since it was a defensive stance most useful to deflect projectiles. He saw her alter to form V just enough to enter Djem So which was the defensive stance for light saber combat. Unlike the bouts with Deron Sy-Zota and Bengal Morr there was no exchange of words, no pleas to see reason. This was the meeting of two diametrically opposed forces of nature. Like the atoms that kept dwarf stars from collapsing because they could not occupy the same space at the same time. It was no different with the Jedi and Sith, the light and the dark. Wherever they met, only one could occupy that space of existence. Either this Lord Tarnis would meld with the Force or he and Kira would, it really was as simple as that. With a yell of anger, unleashing and giving in to his rage, Tarnis force leapt into the air above them crimson blade overhead, and buried it where Kira had just been before rolling to her left. Kai-Kwon rushed in with a powerful swing of his own but Tarnis had pulled his blade out of the floor and blocked his attack. Kira quickly rejoined the fray, using feint attacks to try and give openings for him, but Tarnis never fell for one. He was powerful and well trained, there was no way around that. He also wasn't letting his anger get the best of him. Kai-Kwon knew he could not give in to the creeping doubt that told him there was no way they could defeat him, and simply had to trust in his training and the Force itself…he also had to trust Kira was doing the same. After a couple minutes blocking and launching attacks, he could tell Tarnis was beginning to get frustrated at the tenacity of these two young Jedi who didn't know their place was beneath the sole of his boot. Again, the Sith reputation for underestimating opponents was plain to see. Apparently Angral was getting impatient as well. Through the buzz and crackle of clashing light sabers Kai-Kwon heard the Dark Council leader yell "enough Darth Tarnis! Finish them before more arrive!" Kai-Kwon wondered if he knew how much he was lifting his and Kira's battle spirits, and how much damage he was doing to his son's. He quickly regretted that momentary lapse in focus as Tarnis unleashed a force blast that he didn't even seem to ready. It caught both Jedi off guard and Kai-Kwon could not throw up his own force power to block most of the blast. The telekinetic wave sent Kai-Kwon hurdling through the air. Trying to get his feet under him to land in stance was futile as he felt his back crash into the stone wall with such force that he felt it give way as he crumpled to the floor. Fighting through the pain he glanced over to see Kira had been thrown into the wall opposite the doorway to the room. He started to get to his feet when he felt more than saw Tarnis standing over him. He craned his neck to see the now yellow and red eyed Sith standing over him blade held high ready to unleash the killing blow.

"pathe-" his slur was interrupted by a blast of energy that threw him out of Kai-Kwon's line of sight. He looked over to see Kira on her stomach but arms outstretched in front of her finishing her own force push. Tarnis was pushed but never left his feet and was back on top of him before he really had his feet under him, blocking Tarnis' blade just an inch from his own face. He mustered everything he had left of his own force energy and sent it radiating down his rippling arms struggling to hold the crimson blade off his nose, and through his clenched hands. A Force push was always more powerful through an open palm and outstretched arms, but he didn't need it to knock Tarnis off his feet, he just needed him back enough so that he could stand fully. It worked! Tarnis's upper body was blown back momentarily, and Kai stood up to his full height and closed the short distance, the two locking blades again in front of their faces, but this time Kai-Kwon's height and strength gave him the leverage. Out of his periphery he saw Kira join him and Tarnis broke the lock and back flipped, giving himself some space to take in the rejoined opponent. Tarnis was beginning to look panicked, and the Jedi sensed a weakened opponent as they moved in. Each minute that passed saw Kai-Kwon and Kira more in sync as they pushed the Sith back. Now with his back literally against the wall, Kai-Kwon let himself get his hopes up, but he was quickly reminded why he was always told the battle was never over until it truly was. The Sith were masters of deceit, and deceit was not something the Jedi practiced or really were very good at guarding against. With a quick smirk from Tarnis he knew they had been led into a trap, but as the lightning crackled from the outstretched fingers he also knew it was too late. He managed to get his blade up at the last moment blocking some, but not nearly all of the deadly natural energy. It caught Kira fully in her chest, sending her spiraling backwards across the room they had expended so much energy getting across. While Kai-Kwon held several arcs of lightning on his own blue blade, strands arched over it and hit him in the shoulder. The pain was incredible but he managed to grit through it while holding the killing energy at bay until the bolts seemed to disappear back into Tarnis' fingertips. His hands didn't have the strength to hold the blade, let alone block Tarnis' powerful swings. After three parries Tarnis sent his blade flying across the room into the wall. The young Jedi would not give up though ducking and dodging two more swings until Tarnis incapacitated him with a side kick to the solar plexus that seemed to deflate the air in him like a child popping a balloon. Kira, having taken far more of the deadly lightning didn't seem to want to simply accept her death as Kai-Kwon saw her struggling to her knees. Tarnis saw it too as he left Kai-Kwon gasping for air to walk over to where an obviously blinded Kira was pawing the ground in front of her for her blade. Seeing Tarnis cruelly laughing at Kira's feeble attempts to keep fighting, Kai tried to summon anything and everything he had left, but even the sight of Tarnis' blade raised high over the bare neck of the woman he had loved since he was ten years old could not bring him the power he needed to stop it. Hands still outstretched while silently begging the Force to intervene through him, he closed his eyes at the killing blow he knew was coming…instead of the sound of superheated plasma through skin and bone, and the dull thud of a decapitated head, he heard the exacting tempo of a…repeating blaster? Kai opened his eyes to see Tarnis moving quickly to block the green and red bolts that were flying into the room from the threshold outside. He saw Tarnis' eyes widen and Angral shout for him to run as the Order's Grand Master Satele Shan came rushing into the room, behind an old model T7 series astromech droid, the hilt of her double-bladed lightsaber in both hands, not activating it until she was within a meter of Tarnis. She was an unstoppable force, her blades moving enough such speed to send Tarnis backpedalling. Tarnis blocked one at his neck and then the other side of the saber at his midsection, but couldn't bring his blade back up to stop it again as Master Shan vaulted over the Sith sweeping her blade below her as it sliced cleanly through his neck. Master Shan landed on her feet in front of the large hologram of Darth Angral, the same time Tarnis' head and saber fell to the ground behind her, his body crumpling forward a moment later. Master Shan deactivated her blade and looked up grimly at the holo as Angral leaning into the cam on his end yelling "no!" Kai-Kwon saw movement to the left again and saw his old Master and Master Kwiiks enter with a beautiful green skinned Twilek and a male human maybe around Kai-Kwon's own age. Master Kwiiks and the Twilek stopped to kneel over Kira as the young human and Orgus Din rushed to where he lay. "Are you alright?" the fresh faced…well kid really, asked. He could only nod, the emotional pain he had readied himself for contrasted with the relief of their rescue was overwhelming him far more than the superficial pain could. Orgus could only grip Kai-Kwon's shoulder as he fought to hold back tears. He could barely hear Angral in the background yelling that Master Shan had executed an emissary of the Empire, that she had declared the Treaty of Coruscant void, and that she and her Jedi had better prepare for war. The next few minutes were a blur as he was surrounded with Republic Army medical units, and placed on an anti-grav stretcher. As they were guided out of the Temple and into the waiting med shuttle he looked over to see Kira's stretcher being moved in beside his. He focused on her beautiful face, and wondered how she could be grievously injured and still look so beautiful and peaceful. He returned his gaze to the medic on the other side of him that was asking some question about feeling in his hand. Just then he felt somebody lightly grab his other hand and he looked over to tell the other medic that he was fine and to focus on Kira, but the other medic was on the other side of Kira working on her chest wound. He looked down to see Kira's hand interlocked in his, and he glanced up to meet the same deep green eyes he would get lost in as a youngling. "We fought as one" she managed to say in a quiet and raspy voice, the electricity obviously doing damage to her vocal cords. He could only nod and smile as the lump in his throat prohibited him from speaking. He felt his eyes welling up with tears as he looked up at the concerned face above him, and the beautiful face of a more seriously injured Kira across from him. He let the tears flow as the warm droplets streaked down his temples and tickled his cheeks. His pride disappeared and he didn't care if the medics thought he was crying from the pain.

**Epilogue**

_One Week Later_

Azi and Corso had just landed their borrowed speeder in the Old Coco Market District of Coruscant. They had had a busy week since their so called heroic actions at the Jedi Temple. Really Azi didn't feel they did much but she wasn't going to argue the pronouncement, I mean she wasn't a Jedi or anything. After taking the two young wounded Jedi back to the Army Med Center, they had been given this official speeder to track down Skavak and her ship. There was even talk of giving her a Privateer's commission for the impending war that no diplomat seemed capable of stopping. The Sith had played Darth Tarnis' death at the hands of Satele Shan as the execution of a Sith emissary appointed to make sure the Republic wasn't breaking the Treaty of Coruscant, and when he had found out they had with the Desolator Project he was killed by the Jedi. There was enough truth in there to make it believable, and Azi got the since that the Supreme Chancellor didn't care to argue that point. She was tired of the cold war hostilities and felt it was time for winner takes all. After that, Army Command had become a hive's nest of activity. Azi had talked to Corso about accepting the offered commission and fighting on behalf of the Republic, and she was no longer surprised when he had said he was thinking the same thing. She felt herself falling in love with the young and often goofy Corso Riggs, and she no longer cared to argue that point. Before they could join this great deciding battle at the culmination of the longest war in the Republic's history, she had to find her ship. That had led her to Darmus Pollaran, an old friend of Vidu's. He owned a small casino in the Old Market and had apparently won a galactic Sabacc tournament in his twenties that he had built his fortune on. Azi had already met him twice and each time he had tried to get her to stay the night. He always did it in a way that made her laugh so she always turned him down politely, while Corso's ears turned red. This time however, the old card shark and ladies' man had pertinent information on Skavak's whereabouts. Ahead she could see the tacky lighting that outlined a woman's legs with the words _Red Felt Casino _just above the knees. It was named for the lining of the Sabacc and Pazaak tables, as well as the dancer's stockings. She still cringed a little bit at the sight of scantily clad females entertaining men, especially when the majority of these dancers were members of her species, but Darmus had assured her he abhorred slavery and the four employees he had that were purchased as slaves he had immediately freed and started on wages. The middle aged but still roguishly handsome human was sitting at his large polished office desk in the back when she and Corso entered. The office was adorned in the finest red and gold silks and carpeting.

"Azi'Tivi" he said as he stood and bowed gracefully. Ever since she told him her full name he had never called her just Azi again. "Hello Darmus" she returned the smile but not the bow, that was his thing. "Corso, how's are silent warrior today?" he said standing straight and tall when greeting Corso, mimicking or mocking his standoffish posture. "Pretty good Darmus" Corso said stiffening his back a bit more. There was an unmistakable air of the primitive dance of two males locking horns over the childbearing female. Funny that she had no say in this dance. Azi wondered if she had inadvertently led Darmus into thinking she was available and willing…she did laugh awfully hard at his jokes, but he was funny. She couldn't believe how much she had to modify her behavior to not lead men on. After just a moment that felt like a minute they broke the stare and Darmus turned back to Azi while punching some keys into his desk. A holo image that looked like a spaceport appeared over the desk, and he motioned for his associate to step forward "Fez Burba is the one who tracked down your friend Skavak and he can give you the details" The little Sullustan approached the image from the side and said in his uniquely accented basic "Skavak is in hangar bay 32 with your ship. He's apparently buying information from a broker with the Exchange. What that information is we don't know but we can guess he plans to leave Coruscant immediately after" he finished, his dewflaps resting with the finished briefing. That information sent a jolt through Azi and she looked to Corso to see if he shared her excitement "then we better move now" she said. "one thing" Darmus said stepping out from behind his desk and throwing a leg over the corner "I'm well connected, but even I hesitate to cross the Exchange, or put any of my people on their hit list" gesturing with his hands as he searched for the polite phrase. Azi thought about that for a moment and in the end couldn't blame him for his reticence, it was an awfully big risk for virtually no pay off. After a moment she looked to Darmus "actually…all I need is this information." He confirmed his willingness to oblige "Thank you Darmus. You've been incredible and I will definitely pay you back one day" she said leaning in to give the old rogue a kiss on the cheek. Turning around to slap a simmering Corso on the shoulder she said "c'mon, we gotta get some help, and I know just where to look". Back in the air she pulled her comm out and punched in the code Kai-Kwon had given her a few days before. His voice resonated loud and clear and she silently thanked the Force he was still on planet "How are you Captain?" he said from the other end "in a bit of a crunch Jedi" she answered in a jokingly manner. Remembering his partner or comrade Kira Carson was in the last stage of recovery at the med center she asked "how is Kira?"

"Better each day. Her breathing is back to normal and she's walking again. Had it not been for you and Corso I'm afraid she would not be here"

"Oh…we were just along for the ride, but I'm really glad to hear it" she said than trying to meekly shift to her ulterior motive for the comm "hey" she said as if he was just answering "you remember how you said you would do anything you could for me?"

"As long as it was in the interest of justice, sure" the Jedi said after a moment's pause and she could hear his smile through the comm. "Well I found my ship, and the womp rat who stole it….and I thought your presence may…how did you put it? Deter violence?"

"I understand, but why not just call CSF?" he asked ever sensible

"Because the intel that found him, did so at a small spaceport in the Berian, where we believe he is leaving Coruscant immediately after purchasing whatever info he is after".

"So time is of the essence" Kai'Kwon said recapping her point

"Yes, yes, very of the essence…if that makes sense" she said flustered

"I imagine you assumed I would say yes and are headed towards defense command?"

"Or just landed" she said as if she just dropped an expensive glass, which elicited a laugh from the Jedi "I'll be right out. Landing pad 13 correct?"

"Yep same one. And thank you Jedi Deo".

"Please, it's Kai-Kwon Captain, see you in a moment". A moment later two robed figures materialized out of the causeway landing portal followed by the same T7 unit from the Temple that had led them to the battle in the transceiver room. With a simple hello they pulled back their hoods and ducked into the back hatch, settling into the bench seat. T7 tweedled from the pad next to the speeder "sorry pal no room. I'll be back here in no time" Kai'Kwon said from the back. The T7 gave a mournful series of bleeps before starting to roll backwards "good to see you again…-"

"-01" Kai'Kwon answered.

"good to see you again 01" Azi finished, to which the little astromech gave a short reply before turning around to roll back to the door. Watching him go Azi would swear he was pouting. Kai'Kwon leaned up and tapped Azi on the shoulder with a small circular object "here Azi" he said as he tapped her with it "it's a pulse beacon that will allow us free range of movement through the skylanes, you just place it on the dash".

"Thanks, but uh, we've been moving pretty freely without it" she said eliciting a chuckle from Corso this time in the passenger's seat. The Jedi held up his palms in defense "only a precaution then, since getting pulled over could cause us to miss this important rendezvous"

"Well being a cautious lady I'll take it" Azi said placing the beacon over the dash where its magnetic strip suctioned it in place. A minute later they were flying through the early evening sky in silence, the lights from the city's giant monoliths just beginning to pierce the darkness. "Got yourself a loyal friend I see" Azi said looking in the rearview mirror to lock eyes with Kai'Kwon. To which he smiled "yeah you could say that."

"What's its deal anyway? I mean what was it doing there?" Corso asked

Kai'Kwon and Kira shared a look before the red-headed Jedi shrugged.

"Well…he's been there since the sacking?" Both Azi and Corso looked wide eyed into the rearview at Kai'Kwon and let out a simultaneous "what?"

"Yeah he was the personal droid of Master Ven Zallow, the highest ranking Jedi killed that day" Kai'Kwon paused and Azi could see discussing this event was bringing up painful emotions in the two Jedi. "Hey look…I didn't mean to…ya know" she said half turning to face them eye to eye. Kai'Kwon just help up his hand "it's quite alright. Anyway Master Zallow had told 01 to hide when the fighting started and that's what he did…just waiting for his Master to arrive I guess" he choked a little bit on the last word and turned to stare out the back window. After a few minutes of painful awkwardness, Corso finally broke the silence with a question that Azi had to admit she was curious about as well. Turning in his seat and grabbing the back of it, he asked "so, what's a, what's with the hoods?" he asked with that colonial farm boy timidity that she had learned not to ascribe much meaning to. "You mean why do we wear them at a time like this?" Kira asked back, to which Corso just nodded his head. "Well we're taught to suppress our individuality in favor of the collective Order. It's to prevent us from being identified and individualized by the public". Corso, enthralled and starting to lean over his chair into their space said "alright…but why?" Kira was completely patient "because the notoriety could appeal to our vanity. Many beings forget that we are not droids. We have wants and desires just like you. We are susceptible to ego, envy, and all the other flaws that effect sentient beings. There are numerous cautionary tales from our Order of Jedi being singled out as war heroes and…even sex symbols" Azi, watching through the rearview noticed the slightest shift in her eyes over to Kai-Kwon when she said this last part. The Jedi could grace the cover of any holomag even with the fresh scar that bisected his right eye, but Azi thought that look may have a meaning for the two deeper than simple physical attraction. "…which has led to a few falls to the dark side, and numerous near falls. So we don our hoods in public to avoid becoming individual celebrities, and stay known as a collective dedicated to the Force and the principles of the Republic". Satisfied, Corso turned back to look out the windscreen "plus it adds to the mystique of our Order" Kai-Kwon added to the silence, and Corso was immediately back around in his seat "what do you mean?" he asked

"Yes Kai-Kwon, what do you mean?" this from Kira who had turned slightly in her seat to face him herself. Kai-Kwon gave a look of unease at this scrutiny from Kira but went on with his explanation anyway "we-" indicating himself and Kira but meaning the Order "depend on our reputation to prevent violence where none needs to occur. If we can utilize a public perception of being invincible well...cyborgs or droids for the lack of a better word, to preempt a need for violence than we will gladly accept that. The hoods and anonymity play on that perception" Kira and Corso turned back without further comment, Kira seemed to really be pondering Kai-Kwon's opinion, but Azi found the Jedi's honesty refreshing. After another interminable bout of silence she looked in the rearview "hey do you guys listen to music?" she saw both Jedi trade toothless smiles, "sure" Kai-Kwon finally said. "We don't listen to a lot of modern music but we use a lot of classical in meditation at the Temple".

"Well this ain't the time for classical so get ready for some modern culture" she said as she turned up the music deck. Riding around Coruscant with two Jedi listening to the thumping sounds of what she thought was Reaping Rancor was not something she ever thought she'd be doing.

Ten minutes later Azi and Corso were standing near the pedestrian entrance to bay 32, watching that backstabbing thief Skavak haggle over the price of information on some kind of star map it sounded like. After getting a good lay of the land and sure that the five beings present were the only ones there she made her move. "I'll give you credit for not junking her" Azi called as she and Corso stepped out of the shadow and into the artificial light of the hangar bay. Corso whipped around and his two lackeys; a Devaronian and a furry Shistavanen both pulled their blasters and looked to Skavak for orders. The two well-dressed humans from the Exchange began taking a couple steps backwards as they scanned the sides and ceiling for the CSF commando team they must've believed would be crashing through the walls at any moment. Skavak held up a patient hand at the men on either side of him as he scanned the room quickly. His confidence grew as he realized the ambush wasn't coming. He took a step forward "well if it isn't the lap dancing spacer and the farm boy wonder" he called out with an exaggerated bow "you got guts, I'll give you that"

Azi came to a stop ten meters in front of Skavak, "not really" she answered hands still in her jacket pockets. Skavak looked as if she was telling a joke now, but he only had to wait a moment for the punch line as the blasters leapt out of the hands of his bodyguards and disappeared into the shadows behind Azi and Corso, smashing to pieces against the darkened back wall. Skavak's look became one alarm and confusion. All five were looking for the source of the mysterious disarming mechanism when the shadows behind Azi and Corso were lit up by a vibrant blue and green, turning the space a kind of dark purple. The light was followed by two hooded Jedi who stepped out of the dark and came to a stop beside Azi and Corso. The two henchman turned on their heels and ran, the two men from the exchange both raised their empty hands above their heads, probably surmising they had not technically done anything illegal here and simply had to wait out this altercation. Skavak turned to his two fleeing compatriots "hey where are you going!?" the answer obvious and he simply yelled "cowards!" as he pulled his own blaster and whipped around firing a flurry of bolts at Azi. Kira's green double blade formed a whirring shield in front of Azi as her Djem So form sent the red bolts deflecting into the ceiling and floor, the last two were sent back to their source, the first missing Skavak's head by and inch, the second entering at his right kneecap "aaghh!" the tattooed face yelled out in pain as he threw his blaster to grab the cauterized whole where his kneecap had been a moment earlier. "Blast you whore!" he spat literally, the spittle falling to the chin of a face contorted by pain. Hands still in her pockets, she bent down to hover over the wounded thief "I warned you on Ord Mantell to give up then, that I would always be-"

"don't gloat Azi" Kai-Kwon interjected.

"Oh please?!" she turned to him. Seeing that the Jedi wasn't wavering she said "oh fine" as she folded her arms across her chest. Kai-Kwon and Kira approached the two humans "we've done nothing wrong, you have no authority to detain us Jedi" the older one said with clear venom, dropping his hands to his sides.

"I understand. You're free to leave" the argument the human had planned started to come out when he realized he had already won, and grabbed the younger man by the shoulder as they turned to head out the bay door. Corso approached Skavak who was now laying on his back with his shattered knee pulled up to his stomach. Corso kicked him lightly in the ribs and Skavak jerked and shielded his eyes from the overhead lights until Corso moved his head to make a shadow across his face "where is she?" he asked

"Where is what? Boy"

"Torchy, my Blastech DL-44" he said as menacingly as he could

"I threw that piece of poodoo out an airlock" he said laughing, but nervously so. "Rogun is gonna have your heads".

"Yeah well we got better friends than he does" Corso said as the two Jedi returned to stand over Skavak. "Corso go check on Azi, she shouldn't have gone on board alone. A CSF patrol is coming to pick up our friend here"

"I need medical attention Jedi, or do you plan on torturing me?" Kira bent down over Skavak and again he flinched and tried to scoot away as if he had just given them some great idea to amuse themselves while they waited "hold still" Kira commanded as she held both hands over the shredded knee. After a minute sweat started to bead and roll down her forehead but still Skavak was at a loss "what's she doing?" Skavak demanded

"Quiet" Kai-Kwon commanded back. A minute later Skavak began to feel a change as he said "oh wow, that feels…wow!" a moment later Kira took a deep breath out and opened her eyes inspecting her work. "It will still need medical attention but most of the tendons are repaired and I healed the pain but only temporarily so don't be surprised when it returns". Skavak couldn't bring himself to say thanks but for a brief moment he held the look of a middle aged man who realized he had wasted the first half of his life on cynicism.

Azi only had time for a cursory inspection, but so far everything appeared to be in order; C2-02 was on board and greeted her as master, meaning Skavak had never gotten around to changing his programming. Her quarters were a mess but that was to be expected when a dirty Akk had been living in it for the past three weeks, and her clothes were still in the closet. She walked down the curved corridor to the cargo hold entrance and peered in to find…a woman…holding a blaster on her "don't! Don't reach for it" the human woman warned "are you with Rogun? Are you here to kill us?"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Azi said taking a step in with her hands up "big misunderstanding. You mean Rogun the Butcher?" the woman nodded "what does he have to do with this?"

"Skavak is searching for the treasure of Nok Drayen for Rogun. He kidnapped me for my knowledge of it"

"No…look, I'm the Captain of this vessel, my name is Azi'Tivi Zanek. Skavak stole her three weeks ago from Ord Mantell and I've been chasing him ever since" finally the woman looked like she wasn't going to pull the trigger at the slightest sound as she began to lower the blaster "so you're the one he's been running from" she said, a statement not a question. As she returned the blaster to the hidey hole under the cargo lift controls. Stepping forward she said "I'm Risha, Risha Drayen" Azi took the proffered hand "well that answers my next question. Nice to meet you Risha"

"Captain!" a winded Corso said from the doorway, "everything okay?"

"Everything's great Corso, let me introduce you to our newest crewman…well if she wants to stay on and get paid that is".

A minute or so later everyone was in the hangar to see Skavak off. Azi cursed Jedi altruism as she saw Skavak walking under his own power between two CSF officers. After he was gone the two Jedi turned to Azi "well Azi, are you going to accept the Republic's offer of a Privateer's commission?" Kira asked. "Yes I think we're going to need you in the years ahead" Kai-Kwon added

"I wouldn't feel right doing anything else now" she answered.

"Umm what about my father's treasure…and Rogun?" Risha asked from slightly outside the friendly circle.

"No reason we can't do both" Corso said, reading Azi's thoughts exactly. "Well I'm glad to hear it" Kira said "As am I" Kai-kwon added from over her shoulder. "Well then let's call this a temporary goodbye" Azi said to the two Jedi "agreed" Kai-Kwon said as he shook her hand. Then reaching over to shake Corso's hand "until we meet again Corso Riggs" he said

"It's been an honor Master Jedi" Corso said but Kai-Kwon just waved a finger with his other hand "just Kai-Kwon for now". Behind them Azi took a chance on broaching formalities and moved past Kira's outstretched hand to give her a hug. The Jedi tensed at first but then reciprocated with a squeeze of her own, and when they broke she said "it's been a real pleasure Azi. It's nice to have friends outside the Temple"

"It's nice to have friends inside of it" Azi said rubbing Kira's shoulder. Kira looked at Corso and Kai-Kwon briefly before turning back to Azi "You and Corso make a great couple".

"How…how did-" Azi started to say

"your feelings for each other permeate the air around you. I think the Force has fated you together" Kira said breaking contact. Azi could only smile as Corso rejoined her and Kai-Kwon touched Kira's shoulder to go. Seeing the two Jedi walk across the hangar it finally clicked and Azi called out "you guys do as well, the Force wills it" Kira turned to flash a knowing smile and Azi saw Kai-Kwon's confusion as he leaned over no doubt asking her what that was about. Corso was thinking the same as he leaned over and said "what did that mean?" Azi leaned up to give him a kiss, a long slow kiss and their first kiss since that night on the Republic fleet. Breaking apart but just inches away she whispered "I'll tell you tonight".


End file.
